Lot 5091: 1793 Liberty Cap Cent

- William Dunlap, on Joseph Wright, A History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States, 1834

Among the most problem-free of the high grade 1793 Liberty Cap cents, this coin ideally showcases the Liberty Cap design of Joseph Wright. As a young portrait painter studying in London, just 26years old, Wright was dispatched to Paris to paint Benjamin Franklin. He spent much of the first half of 1782 in Passy, the Paris suburb that served as Franklin's home in France. In March 1782,Franklin conceived a medal that would have an enormous impact on the future of American coinage and the numismatic legacy of Joseph Wright.

Many, perhaps most, of the leaders of the American Revolution were given examples of the Libertas Americana medal. Jefferson's was displayed in a frame at Monticello and described in hisinventory of art as "a medal by Doctor Franklin." Washington's, struck in silver, was housed in a sumptuous box that contained a set of medals struck in France to commemorate theRevolution. If Wright didn't own one personally, the odds are good that others in his circle did, likely including Mint Director David Rittenhouse.

Research by Bill Eckberg, published in Penny-Wise in September 2010, has shown that the 1793 Liberty Cap cents were struck on July 18 and July 22, indicating that the dies must have been executedsome time earlier. The fruits of the Mint's labor for those two days amounted to 11,056 cents, representing the sum total of the 1793 Liberty Cap cent production, all delivered to the Mint'streasurer on September 18. By the day they were inspected, counted, and turned over for distribution, Joseph Wright was dead, a victim of the plague that turned Philadelphia vacant during the latesummer doldrums for years into the early 19th century: yellow fever.

To read the complete lot description, see:
1793 Liberty Cap Cent. Sheldon-13. Liberty Cap. Rarity-4- (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-6QP7N)

Lot 5093: 1794 Liberty Cap Cent, Head of 1793

If 1794 cents are large cent royalty, this coin is the Crown Prince of this date. Its quality is incomparable and its provenance is perhaps even better. The list of owners of this coin is mademore astounding by the fact that it spent seven decades in the trays of the Garrett Collection, housed for most of that time at Evergreen House in Baltimore. Before this coin was sold at publicauction in 2013, it had not been put up for bids in over a century. Every link in its provenance chain tells a story. One sale was delayed by President Lincoln's assassination. Another would havenever occurred but for derring-do and an academic appetite for ancient coins that exceeded that for coins of the United States. It has been described as "entirely uncirculated" by W. ElliotWoodward (and by Frossard, who later borrowed this same phrase), "a beauty in every respect" by David Proskey, "as far as I know, unique" by Dr. Edward Maris, and a"blazer" by Ted Naftzger. J.N.T. Levick, more quaintly, noted that the coin was "very fine, or quite Unc." When Ted Naftzger wrote to John W. Adams to ask, "What's thechance of my seeing a few of your lovely '94s one more time?" this coin was literally at the top of his list.

Its story begins, of course, in 1794, after the death of engraver Joseph Wright. Wright's new but familiar design, directly inspired by Augustin Dupre's 1783 Libertas Americana medal, wasused on the Liberty Cap cents of 1793. The obverse hubs Wright made, depicting the head a young woman superimposed upon a liberty pole and cap, outlived him. This classic design would be reimaginedby Robert Scot, but not before three obverse dies were sunk with Wright's head of Liberty. Those dies, used to strike Sheldon numbers 17, 18, 19, and 20, are known today as the Head of 1793.

To read the complete lot description, see:
1794 Liberty Cap Cent. Sheldon-18b. Head of 1793. Rarity-4. Mint State-64 BN (PCGS).(https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-6QP8T)

Lot 5067: 1811 Classic Head Half Cent

Coined from the earliest known state of these dies, this coin displays all the delicate relics of the die's production that would be lost on a lower grade coin. The portrait shows manycriss-crossing raised lapping lines, and others are seen descending into the field from her nose and lips, stretching into the fields above and below the bust truncation, and covering the reversefields in a mostly vertical fashion. There are noteworthy raised die lines right of the top of U of UNITED and spanning from below C of CENT to the wreath below CA. This is Breen's Die State Iand Manley 1.0.

Most specialists in the half cent series would be overjoyed to own any 1811 with a modicum of visual appeal. Most are well worn, and few among them are beautiful. "Most 1811 C-1 half centsare in grades below Fine," according to Manley, and the somewhat more common Cohen-2 is even scarcer in high grades than this variety. PCGS has graded a Mint State example of this date on justfive occasions. The two best, of which this is the finer, were in the Missouri Cabinet Collection: this MS-66 RB (PCGS) Cohen-1 and a MS-65+ BN Cohen-2. The McGuigan Collection includes an MS-62 BNCohen-2, and an MS-63 BN (PCGS) was sold in April 2014. The Norweb Cohen-1, the only example of this variety that could rival the present example, does not appear to have been certified or offeredpublicly since 1987. NGC has never graded a single example of this date in Mint State.

Even before cannon had been pointed at Fort Sumter, 1811 half cents were a desirable commodity. Montroville W. Dickeson, as early as 1859, described them as "rare and valuable, as they are tobe found but in few cabinets." Today, it remains a key to the series. Rick Coleman summed this coin's appeal well when describing its first place finish at the 1998 Half Cent Happening:"R. Tettenhorst's 1811 C1 was the star of the show. As Mike George commented, 'Once you see that coin, it changes everything.' I was pleased to have it present. There is nothing likea proof like, Mint State, red brown 1811 C1 to ensure that the Happening is a success."

To read the complete lot description, see:
1811 Classic Head Half Cent. Cohen-1, Breen-1. Rarity-4. (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-6QP10)

Lot 5037: 1800 Draped Bust Dollar

- Elias Boudinot, Report by the Director of the Mint,January 1800

The year 1800 was an inflection point in the history of the United States Mint and the dollar denomination. After mintages of 327,536 and 423,515 in 1798 and 1799, the number of dollars decreasedin 1800 to fewer than 221,000. The annual mintage would not top 100,000 pieces again for more than 40 years. The Mint institution endured similar ups and downs. After five years of gold and silvercoin production, and nearly a decade of operation, the Philadelphia Mint was threatened by the impending removal of the national capital to its new location on the banks of the Potomac. EliasBoudinot warned President John Adams, "The doubtful consequences of a removal must strike every person acquainted with the business of the mint, as it is in a great measure supported by thebullion passing through the different banks of this city."

Boudinot understood that transplanting the Mint from the biggest commercial center in the nation to a new city far from the corridors of economic power would have devastating consequences.Further, the Mint's products were disappearing from circulation faster than they could be replaced, as the gyrations of the international market for gold and silver created premiums that made theexport and melting of United States coins more and more profitable for corporate entrepreneurs.

Boudinot successfully lobbied Congress for a reprieve from the impending move, receiving a two-year stay of execution on March 3, 1801. Further five-year renewals passed Congress in 1803, 1808,1813, 1818, and 1823, but it wasn't until the Act of May 19, 1828 that the Mint was allowed to "continue ... at Philadelphia until otherwise provided by law."

To read the complete lot description, see:
1800 Draped Bust Silver Dollar. Bowers Borckardt-193, Bolender-13. (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-6QOV6)