1794 1C Severed Locks, S-25, BN MS(PCGS#35540)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2080

Grade

XF40BN

Price

9,000

Lot Description

Heck DS2, Breen Die State II. This is a handsome olive-brown example with intermingled blushes of faded rose color at the upper obverse and reverse borders. Angular misalignment of the dies explains the uneven strike which has left the right obverse and reverse peripheries soft, most noticeably on the reverse where the tops of the letters in AMERICA are faint to indistinct. Otherwise this piece is sharply defined for the grade. Marks are minor and generally seen in the softly struck areas, confirming that they are original to the planchet. Both Del Bland and Bill Noyes assign this coin an EAC grade of VF-25, with the latter netting this to VF-20 (on account of the uneven strike) and ranking it as tied for CC#13 in his census. Although it is not included in the 2000 Bland census, this piece would be tied for CC#9 based on the EAC VF-25 grade.<p>Writing in his 2022 reference <em>Die States of 1794 United States Large Cents</em>, Chuck Heck observes that Breen Die States III and IV do not exist as only one set of clash marks develops on both the obverse and reverse dies of this variety, not two or three sets. The absence of die cracks at the first letter A in AMERICA and the letter D in UNITED, therefore, confirm the Widmer Family specimen as a Breen Die State II coin ("Single obverse and reverse clash marks, no cracks"). The Breen large cent encyclopedia assigns Sheldon-25 to the Mint's delivery of March 26, 1794, opining that it "probably formed a small fraction of the 24,000 delivered."