1794 Liberty Cap Cent. S-70. Rarity-2. Head of 1795. AU-55 (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-70, Breen-62. Obv: Small circular curl at the base of Libertys portrait, faint repunching at the upper right corner of the digit 7 in the date, the digit was first punched inverted, then corrected, with evidence of the blunder discernible under magnification. This obverse was also used in the S-69 pairing. Rev: Triple leaf in the wreath at the letter D in UNITED, double leaf at the letter O in OF. This reverse also appears in the S-71 pairing.<p>Along with S-67, S-68, S-69, S-71, S-72 and NC-3, Sheldon-70 corresponds to the Head of 1795 <em>Guide Book</em> variety of the 1794 Liberty Cap cent.<p><strong>Die State:</strong> Noyes D/B, Breen IV. Obv: The break from the border between the letters TY is heavy and extends through Libertys temple and cheek to the jaw, a small piece of metal has broken out of the die below the TY. Rev: Clash mark from Libertys nose below the letters ER in AMERICA, from the bust and pole at the word OF, additional clash marks from Libertys portrait within the lower third of the wreath.<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. According to Walter Breen (2000), the Sheldon-70 variety was "apparently delivered December 16-18," during which time the Mint delivered a total of 64,000 cents, almost certainly from multiple die pairings.<p><strong>Estimated Surviving Population for the Die Variety:</strong> Rarity-2: 751 to 1,000 coins in all grades.<p><strong>Strike:</strong> Boldly to sharply defined overall, although the letters UNITE in UNITED along the lower left reverse border are faint and only partially discernible; this softness extends to the corresponding area on the obverse where the cap is blunt with little of its finer definition evident. Plenty of crisp delineation remains between the individual strands of Libertys hair, and both sides are fully denticulated with the sharpest denticles from 12 to 5 oclock on the obverse.<p><strong>Surfaces:</strong> Warmly and evenly patinated in medium brown, tinges of powder blue and golden-apricot are evident under a light. Both sides are satiny and predominantly smooth, with no handling marks of note. Minor planchet flaws (as made) are seen at Libertys neck and from the top of the cap into the field below the letters LI in LIBERTY.<p><strong>Commentary:</strong> The Head of 1795 <em>Guide Book</em> variety of the 1794 Liberty Cap cent refers to those coins delivered from December 16 through 30, 1794 from die marriages that we now know as Sheldon-67 through 72, and NC-3. This varietys introduction coincides with the Mints hiring of John Smith Gardner in November 1794. Although he never received a commission as an officer of the Mint and remained "acting assistant engraver" throughout his employment, Gardner left an indelible mark on our nations early coinage. Within the large cent series he is best known for the Liberty portrait device punches used on the last of the 1794-dated coinage and all of the 1795-dated obverse dies. Gardners "first head" (as described by Breen) is identifiable by the circular curl to the lowest lock of Libertys hair, which appears on all varieties in this group except S-72, which has no curl to the lowest lock, exactly as seen on 1795-dated cents.<p>The ESM specimen from the Sheldon-70 dies is a superior quality representative of the Head of 1795 <em>Guide Book</em> variety. It is also one of the finest examples of the die pairing and, as such, would be an equally fine addition to an advanced collection of large cent varieties. EAC grade of EF-40 and tied for CC#10 in the Bland census, the Noyes 2006 census says XF40(AU50) and CC#9/11.PCGS# 1365. NGC ID: 223M.From the ESM Collection. Earlier ex H.A. Sternberg; M.H. Bolenders sale of March 1956, lot 1578; Dorothy I. Paschal; Tom Morley; Julian Leidman; unknown intermediaries; Kurt R. Kruegers 1984 ANA Sale, lot 3276; Anthony Terranova; Herman Halpern; our (Stacks) sale of the Herman Halpern Collection, March 1988, lot 102; R.E. "Ted" Naftzger, Jr.; Early American Coppers sale of April 1989, lot 45; Robert E. Matthews; Chris Victor-McCawley; W.M. "Jack" Wadlington.
