1793 Flowing Hair Cent. Wreath Reverse. S-11C. Rarity-3-. Lettered Edge. AU-53 (PCGS). CAC.This is a simply outstanding example of both the type and variety that is eagerly awaiting inclusion in another high quality numismatic cabinet. Satiny and tight, the surfaces also reveal modest semi-reflective tendencies in the fields as the coin dips into a light. The overall appearance is so smooth as to border on pristine, certainly relative to the grade assigned by PCGS, and the only useful identifiers are shallow planchet flaws (as made) on the obverse at the lowest leaf in the sprig above the date and at the reverse border between the letters TA in STATES. Obverse ideally centered within a full beaded border, the reverse impression is drawn trivially toward 1 oclock, although only the border beading along the upper right is affected. All major design elements are sharp to full, light rub to the highest points of the obverse portrait and a few of the leaves in the reverse wreath doing little more than upholding the validity of the assigned PCGS grade. Accuracy alone compels us to mention a few wispy pin scratches on the reverse, but they are so faint as to be easily overlooked and even more easily forgiven. A gorgeous Wreath cent irrespective of variety, and among the finest known for the S-11C attribution. With an EAC grade of EF-45, in fact, this coin is included in the Condition Census for this variety in the Breen large cent encyclopedia (2000). Breen Die State II. From the Collection of Thaddeus A. Tatum III. Earlier ex our (Bowers and Ruddys) Rare Coin Review #24, Autumn 1975; our (Bowers and Ruddys) sale of December 1975, lot 270; our (Bowers and Ruddys) Rare Coin Review #26, Summer 1976; Andrew P. Lustig; our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of September 1985, lot 14; Kagins (sale of January 1986, lot 4100; Andrew P. Lustig; Midwest collector; Jay Woodside (The Scotsman); Harold "Red" Seiler; Jay Woodside (The Scotsman), September 1993; Thomas D. Reynolds, February 1997; John B. MacDonald; Denis W. Loring; Heritages sale of the Denis W. Loring Collection of 1793 Large Cents, January 2012, lot 3030.
