1799 1C S-189, BN MS(PCGS#36140)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Commissaire-priseur

Stack's Bowers

Numéro du lot

3009

Grade

VF30BN

Prix

46 800

Description du lot

Breen Die State II-III. Exceptionally attractive in warm chocolate brown patina, the surfaces are remarkably smooth in hand for an example of this key date Draped Bust cent issue. Neither side reveals any significant roughness or large marks, just a trace of microporosity that requires magnification to discern, and a couple of trivial marks that include useful identifiers on the obverse immediately before Liberty's mouth and at the junction of the bust and neck. These S-189 cents are almost always somewhat soft along the lower obverse border, due to axial misalignment of the dies, but here all four digits are fully outlined and bold, and the definition is bold to sharp elsewhere in the context of the assigned grade.<p>This is the most famous large cent issue, second rarest in the series behind the 1793 Liberty Cap. Generally conceded as the rarest date in the series, if all 1793 varieties are considered together. Most of this date's fame, today, is from the often repeated story that Joseph Mickley, born in 1799, vainly searched for a cent from his birth year. In different variations this comment has been repeated often, although numismatic researcher Karl Moulton has stated that he had difficulty attributing this comment to Mickley himself - it seems that others other than Mickley were fond of saying this.<p>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. The offered coin easily supports an EAC grade of VF25, and is included as such in the 2000 Bland census, in which it is tied for CC#3 for the S-189 dies.