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

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

Spring 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Lot Description: The beautiful surfaces are frosty with full original mint color in vivid pinkish-apricot. Boldly struck overall, there is modest semi-reflectivity in the fields that enhances the eye appeal. 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. The present example does show evidence of die erosion throughout both sides, but this requires magnification to discern and in no way inhibits the strong eye appeal. The strike is also sharp overall, as previously stated. This is a simply outstanding example of the issue that is worthy of the strongest bids. Condition Census.<p>This lot includes PCGS OGH Rattler insert 8045323 with a grade of MS-66 RD from a very early certification of this coin.