1794 1C Short Bust, S-43, BN MS(PCGS#35594)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2090

Grade

AU58BN

Price

22,800

Lot Description

Heck DS4, Breen Die State III. A thin, shallow, nearly horizontal scuff on Liberty's neck and minor planchet flake around the top right corner of the letter E in CENT instantly identify this coin as the famous Frossard-Garrett specimen of the Sheldon-43 cent. It is an ideally centered, sharply struck, and visually appealing example that shows very little in the way of actual wear. In fact, the whisper of friction seen on the highest elements of the devices is easily explained as cabinet handling. While there are no other marks present apart from the aforementioned identifiers, close inspection with a loupe reveals fine porosity that takes this coin out of contention for an EAC Mint State grade. Frosty in texture and appearing smooth and hard during in-hand inspection, nonetheless. Even, pleasing steely chocolate-brown patina rounds out an impressive list of physical attributes.<p>This coin's first auction appearance dates to November 1880, when it appeared in Sigismund K. Harzfeld's sale of "the Superb Collection of American Cents, (Formed by Mr. J.C. Roach, and now the Property of Mr. J. Colvin Randall, of Philadelphia.)" Offered as lot 440 therein, it was cataloged as, "a beautiful, strictly uncirculated coin, bright. Very rare." It then became part of Edouard Frossard's collection, who sold it in his Thirty-Seventh Sale of October 1884, lot 876, with the description:<p><em>Short bust. 2d reverse. Six stars to left half wreath. Perfect impression, of fine red color. Uncirculated. From S. K. Harzfeld's sale, Nov. 26, 1880, $18.00. Plate IX. Maris 22; Monog. 13.</em><p>The buyer was T. Harrison Garrett, in whose collection it remained until gifted to The Johns Hopkins University in 1942, by John Work Garrett. Sold privately by the university in 1973, this coin then entered the modern numismatic market, with subsequent owners including John W. Adams, Daniel W. Holmes, Jr., Adam Mervis, Walter J. Husak and, most recently, the Widmer Family - all leading early copper collectors of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. With an EAC grade of AU-50, this prized rarity is tied for CC#3 for the Sheldon-43 dies in both the Bland and Noyes census lists.