1793 Flowing Hair Cent. Chain Reverse. S-1. Rarity-4. AMERI. AU-55 (PCGS).

Exceptionally well produced by the standards of the early United States Mint, both sides are sharply struck with nearly perfect centering on the planchet. All major design elements are crisp, the individual strands of Liberty's hair distinct apart from softness behind the brow as well as over, behind and below the ear. Glossy steel-brown surfaces are frosty in texture with a smooth, hard and tight appearance. There are no planchet flaws, as well as no evidence of porosity or other environmental damage. Wispy handling marks are generally faint and easily overlooked, although accuracy compels us to mention a light graze in the left obverse field that arcs down to the right behind Liberty's head. There are also a few trivial edge bruises: on the obverse outside the letter B in LIBERTY, to the right of the letter Y in that word, and on the reverse at the letter O in OF. The securing feet of the PCGS holder conceal the bruises at the B in LIBERTY and O in OF from view. Breen Die State III. The 1793 Chain cents are numismatic Americana at their finest. After pattern coinage in 1792, the first federal coins made for general circulation at the new Mint building in Philadelphia were struck at the end of February 1793 and delivered by the coiner in early March. These were the first large cents, production of which preceded that of half cents by several months. The pieces were put into circulation, with no known numismatic attention paid to them. Indeed, the number of people seriously interested in numismatics in the United States at that time could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and these gentlemen mainly concerned themselves with earlier and classic issues. A newspaper article at the time stated that the Chain motif on the reverse was but "an ill omen for Liberty," certainly not symbolic of our nation. No doubt for this reason the design was soon revised completely. The Chain cents are struck in rather low relief, whereas their successors, the Wreath cents, are in dramatic high relief, more so than any other large copper cent issue. Over the years the cents of 1793 have had special place in the hearts of numismatists. Indeed, the first photographic plate printed in The American Journal of Numismatics in 1869 was a panel of cents of this year gathered from various collections. Ever since numismatics became a widely popular hobby in 1857-1858, the ownership of a 1793 Chain cent has been a badge of distinction. The Sheldon-1 die pairing, offered here, enjoys particularly strong demand not only as the first variety of large cent produced, but also as the only one of the Chain Reverse design with the AMERI. abbreviation in the legend. Today in 2023, the typical 1793 Chain cent ranges in grade from Good to Fine, punctuated by an occasional VF, and an even more occasional EF. Examples at the About Uncirculated level attract much excitement; the presently offered PCGS AU-55 is sure to see spirited bidding among both type collectors and early copper enthusiasts. In his cataloging of this coin for Ira & Larry Goldberg's February 2013 sale of the Paul Gerrie Collection, Bob Grellman assigned this coin an EAC grade of EF-40. It is graded EAC EF-40 Average Plus and ranked CC#9 in the 2006 Noyes census.

PCGS# 35432. NGC ID: 223G.

Ex Walter Husak; Paul Gerrie; Ira & Larry Goldberg's sale of the Paul Gerrie Collection of Large Cents, February 2013, lot 1; our sale of the ESM Collection, August 2020 Auction, lot 1001.