1797 Draped Bust Cent. S-143. Rarity-5. Reverse of 1797, Stemless Wreath. AU-55 (PCGS).<strong>Type:</strong> Draped Bust.<p><strong>Design:</strong> Obv: A draped bust of Liberty faces right with the word LIBERTY above and the date 1797 below. Libertys hair is tied with a ribbon, the ends of which are plainly evident at the back of the head. Rev: A 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> 10.89 grams.<p><strong>Diameter:</strong> 29 mm.<p><strong>Die Variety:</strong> Sheldon-143, Breen-31. Obv: Curved tail to the letter R in LIBERTY with the top of the final digit 7 in the date embedded in the drapery. This obverse also appears in the S-142 pairing. Rev: One of two Stemless Wreath reverse dies of the 1797-dated cent issue, and distinguished from the other by the point of the outermost leaf in the wreath under the curve of the letter D in UNITED. (On the other Stemless Wreath reverse the point of this leaf is under the right side of the upright of the D.) This reverse is also used in the 1796 NC-7 and 1797 NC-8 pairings.<p>S-143 is one of several die marriages that correspond to the Reverse of 1797, Stemless Wreath <em>Guide Book</em> variety of the 1797 Draped Bust cent. The others are S-131, S-132, S-133 and NC-8.<p><strong>Die State:</strong> Noyes A/B, Breen II. Obv: Lightly clashed in the field under Libertys chin. Rev: A fine die crack from the upper left serif of the letter U in UNITED extends into the field toward the wreath, light clash marks are evident in the wreath before and after the word ONE.<p><strong>Edge:</strong> Plain.<p><strong>Mintage:</strong> The mintage of 897,510 coins for the 1797 Draped Bust cent provided in most numismatic references corresponds to the Mints deliveries for this denomination during calendar year 1797. Deliveries took place from February 6 through March 30, then from November 6 through December 13. No cents were delivered between the end of March and the beginning of November due to delays in copper shipments and the yearly yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. The February 6 through March 30 deliveries include coins struck from 1796-dated dies, while coinage from 1797-dated dies continued into 1798. As such, the exact mintage of the 1797-dated Draped Bust cent issue cannot be determined.<p><strong>Estimated Surviving Population for the Die Variety:</strong> Rarity-5: 46 to 60 coins in all grades.<p><strong>Strike:</strong> The obverse is expertly centered within a uniformly denticulated border, the reverse only slight less so with the denticulation a bit thin from 7 to 11 oclock. Boldly to sharply struck otherwise, the impression is uneven with areas of softness over the lower right reverse and, on the obverse, at the top of Libertys head.<p><strong>Surfaces:</strong> A glossy texture and faint salmon pink undertones betray an old cleaning, but the surfaces have been expertly and attractively retoned in warm, even medium brown. Pale steely-copper highlights are also evident under a light. The aforementioned unevenness of strike has left original planchet roughness within the lower right reverse wreath and at the top of Libertys head, but there are only a few trivial handling marks scattered about. Light marks in the left obverse field above and below the ribbon ends are useful identifiers.<p><strong>Commentary:</strong> Sheldon-143 is a significant die marriage of the 1797 Draped Bust cent, and not only because of the Stemless Wreath feature. Its obverse, which also appears in the S-142 pairing, represents the Mints first use of what Breen describes as Style II lettering. This is most readily identifiable by the curved tail to the letter R in LIBERTY (the tail is straight on Style I). The author asserts that the introduction of this new lettering was due to deterioration in the punches for the earlier font style.<p>Regarding the Stemless Wreath, this feature it is attributable to human error. The stems of the wreath were not part of a device punch and, as such, had to be cut into each working die by hand. In the case of this and other Stemless Wreath reverse dies in the Draped Bust cent series, the engraver simply forgot to add the stems.<p>The S-143 cent offered here was certified MS-60 BN by NGC when offered in Heritages January 2005 sale of the Wes Rasmussen Collection. With no readily evident wear, the more conservative designation of AU-55 from PCGS appears to be a net grade to account for the aforementioned cleaning. Visually appealing, nonetheless, and highly desirable to early copper variety collectors, this coin is ranked CC#1 for the S-143 dies in both the Bland and 2007 Noyes census listings. Blands EAC grade is EF-45, Noyes states XF45(XF45) Average Plus. The Heritage cataloger (presumably Mark Borckardt) assigned a grade of XF45 in January 2005, while in his January 2016 cataloging for the Tom Reynolds Collection Bob Grellman described this coin as "AU50 sharpness net EF45."PCGS# 35990.PCGS Population (all die marriages of the Reverse of 1797, Stemless Wreath variety): 3; 3 finer (all MS-62 BN).From the ESM Collection. Earlier ex Walter Breen, found unattributed at a convention in Oakland, California October 28, 1961; Dorothy I. Paschal, November 1961; Dr. William H. Sheldon, April 19, 1972; R.E. "Ted" Naftzger, Jr., February 23, 1992; Eric Streiner, January 1994; Wes Rasmussen; Heritages sale of the Wes Rasmussen Collection, January 2005, lot 3167; Tom Reynolds; Ira & Larry Goldbergs sale of the Tom Reynolds Collection of Large Cents, Part I, January 2016, lot 119.
