1795 Liberty Cap Cent. S-75. Rarity-3. Lettered Edge. MS-65 BN (PCGS).<strong>Type:</strong> Liberty Cap.<p><strong>Design:</strong> Obv: A head of Liberty faces right, the word LIBERTY above, the date 1795 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-75, Breen-3. Obv: The digit 5 in the date is repunched, its top lost in the base of Libertys portrait. The pole touches the top of the bust, faint die lines slant down to the right on Libertys neck from the ear. This obverse also appears in the S-74 pairing. Rev: Double leaf at the top of the right branch in the wreath, the only reverse die of the Lettered Edge 1795 cent for which this is true. This die was only used in the S-75 pairing.<p>Along with S-73, S-74 and S-76A, Sheldon-75 corresponds to the Lettered Edge <em>Guide Book</em> variety of the 1795 Liberty Cap cent.<p><strong>Die State:</strong> Noyes E/C, Breen V. Obv: Lightly cracked through the top of the letters RTY in LIBERTY and extending to the denticles before Libertys chin, light die buckling through the date extending left, faint crack from the border at 10 oclock extending to the top of the cap. Die erosion is evident through the date, portrait and cap, light to moderate die rust in the right field in front of the chin. Rev: There are triple clash marks in the wreath below the final letter S in STATES and the letter O in OF, as well as clash marks from earlier die states within the lower right portion of the wreath. The die is beginning to buckle at upper right with wavy lines through the letters AM in AMERICA. Light die erosion in many areas, most notably at the lower border around the denominator of the fraction.<p><strong>Edge:</strong> Lettered ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR followed by a single leaf.<p><strong>Mintage</strong>: The mintage of 37,000 coins for the 1795 Lettered Edge variety given in numismatic references refers to a single delivery that the Mint made on October 27 of that year, representing a single weeks worth of coinage.<p><strong>Estimated Surviving Population for the Die Variety:</strong> Rarity-3: 301 to 400 coins in all grades.<p><strong>Strike:</strong> Ideally centered on the planchet with uniformly denticulated borders on both sides, this impressive Liberty Cap cent also has bold to sharp definition to virtually all design elements. We note just a touch of softness to the left bow of the ribbon on the reverse that hardly detracts.<p><strong>Surfaces:</strong> Handsome light brown patina represents even fading of the original mint color, faint traces of which are evident in the protected areas around a few design elements. Frosty in texture with a hard, tight and overall smooth appearance; even close inspection with a loupe reveals only a few wispy handling marks. The most useful identifiers are a tiny planchet void in the upper right reverse field before the foot of the first letter A in AMERICA and a light carbon spot that is well concealed within the final digit 0 in the fraction. Lovely!<p><strong>Commentary:</strong> After delivering 20,021 coins on December 30, 1794, the Mint produced no more cents until October of the following year. This was not for lack of copper, however, as Breen (2000) provides the following purchases in the months leading up to October 1795:<p>-January 13, 1795: 316 pounds, from James Prince<p>-April 15, 1795: 1,076 pounds, from Talbot, Allum & Lee<p>-May 19, 1795: 112 pounds, from John Grace<p>Focused on silver and gold coinage during the early part of the year (1795 saw the first deliveries of half eagles and eagles), it was not until October 27 that the Mint delivered its first 37,000 cents from 1795-dated dies. These are not only the final Lettered Edge coins in the large cent series, but they are also the last examples struck to the weight standard of 13.48 grams as stipulated in the Act of January 14, 1793 (itself a reduction from the original 17.11-gram standard). The October 27 delivery exhausted the Mints supply of copper and, when coinage finally resumed in late December of 1795, the weight standard had been reduced to 10.89 grams at the suggestion of Mint Director Elias Boudinot. Of the 1795 Lettered Edge issue, Breen writes that 26,000 examples were distributed through the Bank of the United States while the remaining 11,000 coins went to the Bank of Philadelphia.<p>Scarcer than its identically dated Plain Edge counterpart, the Lettered Edge is nonetheless an obtainable <em>Guide Book</em> variety of the 1795 Liberty Cap cent. Most Mint State survivors are from the Sheldon-75 dies, as here. The present Gem, among the finest known to PCGS, is also highly regarded among early copper specialists. Del Blands EAC grade is MS-60 and tied for CC#9, Noyes (2007) says AU55(AU55) and CC#15. A gorgeous coin and significant condition rarity that is sure to find its way into another impressive large cent cabinet.PCGS# 1377. NGC ID: 223S.PCGS Population (all die marriages of the Lettered Edge variety): 8; 0 finer in the BN category.From the ESM Collection. Earlier ex Stacks, ca. 1948; Raymond Gallo, October 1960; R.E. "Ted" Naftzger, Jr.; Abe Kosoffs sale of the Edward H. Schwartz Collection, October 1961, lot 89; Gene Reale, 1961; Louis Helfenstein; Lester Merkins sale of the Louis Helfenstein Collection, August 1964, lot 6; F.E. Knoble; Lester Merkins sale of April 1970, lot 421; C. Douglas Smith; Dr. Robert J. Shalowitz; Dr. Jesse Borden; Dr. Robert J. Shalowitz; Jim McGuigan; Superiors session of Auction 87, July-August 1987, lot 1632; Jim McGuigan; Loren Barnett; Anthony Terranova; Tom Reynolds. The 2007 edition of the Noyes large cent reference also states that this coin is from our (Bowers and Merenas) Rarities Sale of August 1999, which is incorrect.
