1839 1C Silly Head, RB MS(PCGS#1749)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2279

Grade

MS65RB

Price

7,800

Lot Description

Noyes Die State C/B. This frosty and fully original example exhibits a lovely original pinkish-orange color and warm gray-brown patina. Faint reverse flyspecks are noted, but more useful for provenance purposes is a concentration of shallow scuffs in the right obverse field between stars 11 and 12. The strike is well executed for the advanced die state, the central design elements boldly to sharply rendered. In addition to softness at the denticles, the peripheries exhibit softness on most obverse stars and some of the letters in the legend on the reverse, although all features are readily evident.<p>Widespread application of the now familiar and popular Silly Head and Booby Head names for certain varieties of the 1839 Modified Matron Head cent dates to June 1868, when Ebenezer Locke Mason, Jr. standardized these terms in his <em>Coin and Stamp Collector's Magazine</em>. According to Breen (<em>Encyclopedia</em>, 1988), inconsistent usage goes back to the United States' first big boom in numismatics during the late 1850s, when both Dr. Montroville Dickeson and Mint Director James Ross Snowden applied them. The Widmer Family specimen is an impressive representative of the Silly Head variety and would be a highlight in virtually any collection.