1794 Liberty Cap Cent. S-31. Rarity-1. Head of 1794. MS-63 BN (PCGS).<strong>Type:</strong> Liberty Cap.<p><strong>Design:</strong> Obv: A head of Liberty faces right, the word LIBERTY above, the date 1794 below, and a liberty cap and pole behind the portrait. Libertys hair is partly confined by a narrow ribbon. The Liberty Cap motif closely resembles that on the obverse of Augustin Dupres famous Libertas Americana medal. Rev: A slender wreath surrounds the denomination ONE CENT, the base of the wreath bound by a ribbon tied into a bow. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is around the border and another expression of the denomination 1/100 is below.<p><strong>Weight Standard:</strong> 13.48 grams.<p><strong>Diameter:</strong> Approximately 29 mm.<p><strong>Die Variety:</strong> Sheldon-31, Breen-13. Obv: The Marred Field variety, reground from its use in the S-38, S-39, S-40 and NC-2 marriages, removing clash marks, but leaving prominent traces of the vertical die chips in the field below the cap. The lowest lock of Libertys hair is doubled. In addition to S-38, S-39, S-40 and NC-2, this die was used in the S-30 pairing. Rev: This die, in its only known use, has the longest fraction bar in the Liberty Cap cent series. The bar is heavy and extends well beyond the denominator at both ends. The ribbon knot is also heavy and pronounced, and there are six berries on both the left and right branches of the wreath.<p>Sheldon-31 is one of numerous die marriages that correspond to the Head of 1794 <em>Guide Book</em> variety of the 1794 Liberty Cap cent.<p><strong>Die State:</strong> Noyes E/A, Breen II. Obv: Die reground again to remove additional clash marks, the die chip immediately behind Libertys head has become larger, light die crack from Libertys temple to the hair above the forehead. Rev: Lightly clashed, most noticeable in the lower field around the left ribbon end.<p><strong>Edge:</strong> Lettered ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR followed by a single leaf.<p><strong>Mintage:</strong> The Mint delivered 918,521 cents during calendar year 1794. Walter Breen suggests that examples from the Sheldon-31 dies may have been struck from March 14 to 21, with perhaps more than 60,000 examples coined for this individual die variety.<p><strong>Estimated Surviving Population for the Die Variety:</strong> Rarity-1: More than 1,500 coins in all grades.<p><strong>Strike:</strong> Impressively sharp over the design elements with crisp delineation between virtually all of the individual strands of Libertys hair. The strike is drawn trivially to 2:30 on the obverse, 3 oclock on the reverse, both sides with little to no denticulation along the right borders. Otherwise the denticles are crisp and pronounced.<p><strong>Surfaces:</strong> Superb medium brown patina with tinges of faded mint orange color remaining in the protected areas around many of the design elements, especially on the reverse. The texture is hard and satiny overall, trace of original planchet roughness remaining on the reverse at the letters IT in UNITED (which are softly defined, as often seen in example of Noyes Die State A). The appearance is smooth and attractive with no significant marks or other blemishes.<p><strong>Commentary:</strong> The dies for Sheldon-31 were prepared using one of Robert Scots device punches for Liberty, a reimagining of the Liberty Cap motif introduced by Joseph Wright in 1793, itself a close copy of Augustus Dupres famous Libertas Americana medal. This is one of the most plentiful die marriages in the entire Liberty Cap cent series, and a number of attractive About Uncirculated and Mint State copies occupy the uppermost tiers in the Condition Census. The present example is missing from the Bland census (2000), but it is included in the 2006 edition of Noyes with an EAC grade of AU55(MS60) Average and a ranking of CC#7/9. The coin is not imaged therein. Whether you are a high grade type collector or advanced specialist in early copper varieties, the present example is worthy of serious consideration, and also very strong bids.PCGS# 901374. NGC ID: 223M.From the ESM Collection. Earlier from Numismatic Gallerys sale of the Charles M. Williams Collection, November 1950, lot 32; Abe Kosoffs sale of the Dr. James O. Sloss Collection of United States Large Cents, October 1959, lot 14; our (Stacks) sale of the Herbert M. Oechsner Estate, September 1988, lot 42.
