1864 1C Bronze, RD MS(PCGS#2078)

1864 1C Bronze, RD MS (PCGS#2078)

June 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Losbeschreibung: Gorgeous rose-orange surfaces also offer full mint luster in a softly frosted finish. The obverse is a bit soft overall, a lightly granular texture also confirming the eroded state of the die, but the reverse is considerably sharper. The latter side is rotated a few degrees counterclockwise from normal coin alignment. Due to the economic uncertainty of the Civil War, gold, silver and, eventually, copper-nickel coins disappeared from circulation in the East and Midwest. Hoarding led to a coinage shortage in those regions that the federal government was slow to address. To fill the void, private merchants issued copper tokens on cent-size planchets, which became quite popular. The federal government finally issued its own bronze cent; the authorizing Act of April 22, 1864 also declared the merchants' tokens illegal (legislation that was widely ignored).<p>Most 1864 bronze cents were struck from dies that do not display the designer's initial L on the obverse, many of which were leftover from the copper-nickel coinage of that year. The use of worn dies explains why most 1864 bronze cents are poorly defined, as here. With full Red mint color and expert surface preservation, this is still an outstanding example of the issue that is worthy of strong bids.