1797 Draped Bust Cent. S-135. Rarity-3. Reverse of 1797, Stems to Wreath. MS-65 BN (PCGS). CAC.This very attractive coin would do equally well in a high grade type set or advanced collection of early copper. Handsome olive-brown patina gives way to faded autumn-orange mint color toward the borders. The surfaces are hard and satiny with an impressively smooth appearance. A faint carbon spot at 9 oclock on the obverse serves as a useful identifier for provenance purposes, as does a thin, noncontiguous planchet flaw (as made) that arcs down from the border before the letter L in LIBERTY into the top of the portrait. Sharply struck from a well centered impression, this is a lovely Gem in all regards. Breen Die State III.<p>Many of the Mint State 1797 large cents known today stem from the Nichols Find, a hoard of large cents that came into the publics eye in the early 1860s when David Nichols of Gallows Hill (Salem), Massachusetts began selling pieces from the find to coin dealers and collectors. The hoard reportedly originated with Senator Benjamin Goodhue who presented the cents to his daughters "in 1797 or early 1798" (according to Breens <em>Encyclopedia</em>, 1988). Among 1797-dated cents in the hoard were representative examples of the varieties S-122, S-123, S-135 (as here), S-136, and S-137. It is indeed probable that the pristine beauty offered here once passed through the hands of David Nichols. Any Mint State Draped Bust cent is both a thing of beauty and a rarity within the series. Strong bids are suggested on this impressive 1797 S-135 cent.<p>PCGS# 35936. NGC ID: 2242.PCGS Population (all die marriages of the Reverse of 1797, Stems to Wreath variety): 11; 3 finer in this category (MS-66 BN finest).<p>CAC Population: 4; 0.Ex Jim McGuigan, September 2006; Paul Gerrie; Ira & Larry Goldbergs sale of the Paul Gerrie Collection, February 2013, lot 49.
