1794 1C Head of 1794, BN MS(PCGS#901374)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2096

Grade

XF40BN

Price

4,800

Lot Description

Heck DS2, Breen Die State II. An attractive chestnut-brown example with glints of deeper steel-olive scattered about. The surfaces are minimally marked, appearing mostly smooth during in-hand viewing, and show nice gloss. There is a single dull vertical mark on Liberty's cheek, behind the nose and mouth, that we mention for both accuracy and as a useful provenance marker. The strike is generally well executed, the reverse nicely centered and universally sharp for the grade. The obverse is also predominantly bold in definition, but the otherwise broad and crisp border denticulation thins and softens at 12 o'clock, which softening of detail also involves some of the letters in the word LIBERTY. The 2000 Breen large cent encyclopedia assigns this variety to the Mint's delivery of 21,000 coins on November 21, 1794. Dr. Edward Maris nicknamed Sheldon-59 the "Mintmarked Head" variety in 1869, a name he later changed to "Many Haired." With an EAC grade of VF30 or so, the Widmer Family specimen is just shy of Condition Census standing per the 2000 Bland listing.