1824/2 N-5 R4 Overdate 4 over 2 PCGS graded MS64 Brown, CAC Approved. Lustrous light olive and golden tan with mellowed mint red in protected areas, especially on the right side of the obverse. The toning is a bit speckled but there are no carbon spots or fingerprints. The only marks are a thin, very light diagonal nick in the field before the chin and an extremely faint hairline scratch across the top of the neck, neither visible without the aid of a good glass. EDS with the usual minor crumbling in the dentils at stars 2-5. Both dies are worn, the obverse from it's earlier use to produce the N-1 die variety and the reverse from the 1823 N-2 marriage. The overdate feature remains clear. Called MS65 and CC#1 in the Wright/Bland census. Noyes says MS60 net AU55 (photo #35801) and CC#2 behind the ANS example, which he calls MS60. Your cataloger has studied the ANS coin and grades it AU55. In our opinion the piece being offered here is the only mint state example of the variety, and the next best outside the ANS collection grades only VF35. Regardless of how you assess the ANS coin or the one offered here, this cent is the finest available to collectors by at least 20 grade points. (For some perspective, the legendary Naftzger collection contained a single example that graded only VF20.)
Our grade is MS62, and the PCGS/CAC opinions support this higher assessment. The attribution and Fitzgerald provenance are shown on the PCGS label.
Population 1; none finer. Estimated Value $20,000-UP.
Ex Henry Berube (New England Coin Co.)-Alan Weinberg-Gene Reale-Alan Weinberg 1964-Garry Fitzgerald collection (comes with the Fitzgerald collection pillbox).
U.S. Colonial and Copper Coins,
Large Cents
