1 Cent (sold for $4400.0)

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1848 Small Date Fantasy Cent, Breen-1901. Rarity 7-. PCGS graded VG-10. Choice glossy light to medium brown with darker steel brown toning on the highpoints of the devices. Very nice for this relatively crude "cent" struck outside the mint using handmade dies that simulate the normal Federal large cent of that date. Smooth and quite attractive, just a few thin nicks on the portrait from flawless. The reverse is rotated 35 degrees CCW from a perfect head-to-foot die orientation and there is no trace of an undertype or multiple strike (both of which are found on these pieces). This was Howard Newcomb's example of the variety, and only 4 were known when he acquired it in 1940. It is reasonable to assume he used this piece to describe the variety in his book on the cents of 1816-1857. Newcomb devoted two full pages in that book to describing the variety and the census of known examples at that time. A total of 11 can be traced today, but few of those are as problem-free as this piece. Our grade is VG7+, very close to VG8. The attribution and Naftzger provenance are shown on the PCGS Label. Estimated Value $4,000-UP. Ex B. Max Mehl 1940-Howard R. Newcomb, J. C. Morgenthau & Co. 5/16/1945:745-Floyd T. Starr, Stack's 6/13/1984:1846-Dr. Robert J. Shalowitz 4/13/1985-R. E. Naftzger, Jr., McCawley & Grellman Auctions/Goldbergs 9/7/2009:902. Categories: Liberty Cents

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