1839 1C Silly Head, RB MS (PCGS#1749)
August 2020 U.S. Coins Auction
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 1113
- 等级
- MS65RB
- 价格
- 62,523
- 详细说明
- Popular 1839 Silly Head Cent
Impressive PCGS/CAC MS-65 RB Quality
1839 Modified Matron Head Cent. N-4. Rarity-1. Silly Head. MS-65 RB (PCGS). CAC.
Type:Modified Matron Head.
Design: Obv: A head of Liberty faces left with 13 stars around the border and the date 1839 below. She is wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY, her hair tied into a bun at the back of her head by a beaded cord. Rev: A circular wreath encloses the denomination ONE CENT with the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the border.
Weight Standard: 10.89 grams.
Diameter: 27.5 mm.
Die Variety: Newcomb-4. Obv: Silly Head, Liberty's shoulder is surrounded by a hair curl. There is no round hole in Liberty's ear, which serves to distinguish this obverse die from that of N-9, the only other Silly Head variety of the issue. The 1839 N-4 represents the only use of this obverse die. Rev: There is a strong line under the denomination ONE CENT, and no inner berry on the inside of the wreath at the letter T in CENT. This reverse die also appears in the 1839 N-1 and N-9 pairings.
Along with N-9, N-4 corresponds to the Silly Head Guide Bookvariety of the 1839 Modified Matron Head cent.
Die State: Noyes C/B. Obv: Die heavily worn with flowlines in the field and the denticulation soft to blunt around much of the border. Rev: The denticulation is weak in areas due to die wear.
Edge: Plain.
Mintage for the Issue: 3,128,661 coins.
Estimated Surviving Population for the Die Variety: Rarity-1: More than 1,500 coins in all grades.
Strike: The strike is well executed for the advanced die state, the central design elements boldly to sharply rendered. In addition to the aforementioned softness at the denticles, the peripheries exhibit softness on most obverse stars and some of the letters in the legend on the reverse, although all features are readily evident.
Surfaces: This frosty and fully original example exhibits a lovely blend of original pinkish-orange color and warm gray-brown patina. Faint reverse flyspecks are noted, but more useful for provenance purposes is a concentration of shallow scuffs in the right obverse field between stars 11 and 12.
Commentary: Widespread application of the now familiar and popular Silly Head and Booby Head names for certain varieties of the 1839 Modified Matron Head cent dates to June 1868, when Ebenezer Locke Mason, Jr. standardized these terms in his Coin and Stamp Collector's Magazine. According to Breen (Encyclopedia, 1988), inconsistent usage goes back to the United States' first big boom in numismatics during the late 1850s, when both Dr. Montroville Dickeson and Mint Director James Ross Snowden applied them. The ESM specimen is an impressive representative of the Silly Head variety and would be a highlight in virtually any collection.
Provenance: From the ESM Collection.
PCGS Population (both die marriages of the Silly Head variety): 7; 3 finer in this category (MS-66 RB finest). There is also an MS-66+ RD certified at this service.
CAC Population: 6; 1.
PCGS# 1749.
Click here for certification details from PCGS.
查看原拍卖信息