(1795) Penny Liberty and Security, RB MS(PCGS#768)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

1339

Grade

MS64RB

Price

3,840

Lot Description

A generally light gray-brown example that retains appreciable faded pinkish-red color that finds greatest expression at direct viewing angles. The strike is sharp for the type, the surfaces smooth and well composed overall with only a few widely scattered spots precluding an even higher numeric grade. Hard and frosty near-Gem Mint State quality for this Liberty and Security issue made by Peter Kempson in 1795. It is believed to have been a speculative attempt to land a coinage contract at a time when the fledgling U.S. Mint was foundering, though no specific information exists to substantiate this theory. Now mostly hidden from view in slabs, the edges of these Washington pieces can be fascinating. Here the edge is visible and reads AN ASYLUM FOR THE OPPRESS'D OF ALL NATIONS, an interesting motto given the politics of today.