1854 Braided Hair Cent. N-12. Rarity-6 as a Proof. Proof-64 RB (PCGS). CAC. Light violet mottling over much of the obverse gives this piece a slightly rosy orange appearance, while more vivid orange outlines remain around the portrait, stars and date. Traces of steel on the high points. The reverse is more deeply toned to rich steel brown but with similar accents of faded red. Traces of pale blue and green iridescence can be seen with a glass. Very sharply struck, with crisp satiny devices and pleasantly reflective fields. Prior to the comprehensive Twin Leaf sale in 2015, we had last seen this coin in 1976 when we sold it for Dorothy Nelson in our "TAD Collection" auction. The plate in the 1976 catalogue suggests that it has changed very little over the years, if at all. Among the finest seen by PCGS, with just one graded finer in this category. Quite lovely and with a nice provenance back to 1954.<p><p>This is one of the 10 Proofs specifically listed by Walter Breen in his reference, along with casual mention of perhaps "a couple of dozen others." It would appear that this estimate was too high. While PCGS CoinFacts suggests perhaps "30+" examples, Denis Lorings efforts to track all Proof large cents has revealed something closer to the R-6 estimate published by Grellman and others. Ex our sale of the Charles J. Dupont Collection, September 1954, lot 992; our sale of the TAD Collection (Dorothy Nelson), February 1976, lot 189; R. Tettenhorst; Denis Loring; Superiors sale of January 1996, lot 1098; acquired by the Twin Leaf collector in October 1996; our sale of the Twin Leaf Collection of United States Large Cents, Part I, July 2015, lot 2670.
