NNP

1799 1C S-189, B-3, R.2 -- Environmental Damage -- NGC Details. AU. Our EAC Grade VF30. The sharpness of this example is solidly in the XF grade range. Border dentils appear at the right side of the obverse and around the reverse. The olive-brown and blue-steel surfaces show light granularity evenly distributed on both sides. The date and LIBERTY are complete, showing slight weakness near the border. The overall eye appeal is excellent. Variety: The Normal Date obverse appears only on this one variety, with a reverse that also makes no other appearances in the Draped Bust series. This early die state shows a trace of the reverse die chip between the E in ONE and the T in CENT, the so-called "mintmark" of 1799 cents. Heritage Commentary: Joseph J. Mickley (1799-1878) is often called the "Father of American Coin Collecting," and his hunt for an elusive example of a large cent from the year of his birth contributed to the fame of this issue, the rarest coinage date in the large cent series. That hunt also incubated his numismatic interest. Emmanuel Joseph Attinelli explained in A Bibliography of American Numismatic Auction Catalogues 1828-1875, published in 1876: {blockquote}"Mr. Mickley is a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born March 24, 1799. Probably every numismatist knows that it was his attempt to procure a cent of that year that led him into the formation of a collection, which was almost unrivalled, both in its fineness and extent, as also in the rarity of many of the pieces it contained."{/blockquote} This example is the exact piece that Mickley finally acquired in 1859. Its numismatic importance in the large cent arena is unparalleled. We concur with Del Bland's grade of VF30. He records this piece as one of four examples at that grade level, all tied for second finest in his Condition Census. Bill Noyes assigns a conservative VF25 grade and places this piece fourth in his census. Provenance: John K. Curtis; Bangs, Merwin & Co. (6/1859), lot 140; Joseph J. Mickley (4/30/1867); W. Elliot Woodward (10/1867), lot 1975; Benjamin Betts; Jamison Brevoort; Lorin G. Parmelee; W.H. Strobridge (6/1876), lot 1765; M.A. Brown (Chapman Brothers, 4/1897), lot 784; Ed. Frossard; H.P. Martin; Dr. Thomas Hall (9/7/1909); Virgil Brand; B.G. Johnson (St. Louis Stamp & Coin Co., 9/27/1943); Abe Kosoff; James G. Macallister; Milton Holmes (Stack's, 10/1960), lot 1415; Lelan Rogers; Lester Merkin (11/1965), lot 57; Lelan Rogers Collection (Numisma '95, Stack's, 11/1995), lot 1028.