1798 1C S-166, BN MS(PCGS#36068)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2156

Grade

MS62BN

Price

12,000

Lot Description

Breen Die State III. Elegant chestnut-brown patina blankets both sides of this hard, lustrous, and frosty example. There is a blush of silvery tinting at central obverse, as well as subtle traces of faded down mint color around Liberty's portrait. Sharply struck apart from along the upper reverse border, where the words STATES OF are soft and the denticulation is absent. A trace of friction to the high points explains Noyes' EAC grade of AU55, which he uses to rank this coin CC#6 in his census, but Bland says EAC MS60 and tied for CC#2. Free of troublesome blemishes, a tiny swirl of lighter color in the lower left obverse field and equally trivial nick below the left base of the letter L in LIBERTY are the only useful identifiers. With an impressive provenance, this splendid example of the Sheldon-166 dies will have no difficulty finding its way into another world-class early copper collection.