1799 Draped Bust Cent. S-189. Rarity-2. Fine-12 (PCGS). Somewhat glossy medium brown with olive-brown highlights. Scattered handling marks are seen, mostly under low magnification, though the in-hand appeal is more than substantial. The design elements are fairly sharp for the grade, with plenty of detail in Libertys tresses, at the date, and at LIBERTY, with strong reverse wreath details, at least within the context of the grade. Although federal records indicate that 904,585 cents were delivered during calendar year 1799, the vast majority of those coins were struck from 1798-dated dies. A small percentage of that total is believed to represent the mintage for the S-188 and NC-1 overdate varieties; the S-189 perfect date coins are thought to have been struck in 1800 since most examples are on the same dark planchets as many of the 1800-dated varieties. As an issue that 1799 is the key date to the early large cents, this despite the rarity rating of <em>only</em> Rarity-2 for the S-189 pairing. The demand for pleasing 1799 large cents is easily among the strongest for any date in the series, and active bidding is the rule of thumb whenever a nice example is offered at public auction. We suspect the present pleasing specimen will be no exception to that rule. This lot includes a collector card with images, provenance information and a description of the coin. <strong><em>The card is available to the winning bidder upon request to Stacks Bowers Galleries at the close of the auction</em></strong>. From the William L. Buxton Collection. Earlier ex our Philadelphia Americana Sale of September 2011, lot 2299; William Buxton Collection.
