1791 Washington Cent - Large Eagle

Beautiful specimen Ryan!

Despite it being in a holder, any idea what it says along its rim edge?

Per my sources, there exists 5 varieties, most easily discernible by their edges:

Fuld-WA.1791.2 / Breen-1217 / W-10630: Copper
"UNITED STATES" edge.

Fuld-WA.1791.2 / W-10632: Brass
"UNITED STATES" edge.

Fuld-WA.1791.2a / Breen-1218 / W-10635: Copper
"MACCLESFIELD" edge.

Fuld-WA.1791.2b / Breen-1219 / W-10640 / D&H Middlesex 1050a: Copper
"PAYABLE AT THE WAREHOUSE" edge.

Fuld-WA.1791.3a / Breen-1224 / W-10645: Copper
plain edge.

Also, Bowers lists this specimen as a "Small Eagle," rather than "Large Eagle," whereby the Large has the date the obverse, and the Small has the date on the reverse.

Terrific pickup! :thumb:

 

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Nice Washington piece, Ryan. Congratulations!

You seem to be building a nice colonial collection, judging also by your Elephant Tokens.


I have an example, similar to yours - 1791 Small eagle cent. According to the Bowers Encyclopedia of 'Colonial and Early American Coins', the small eagle cent is somewhat scarcer than the large eagle variety. Struck in Birgmingham, England, the book states that a cask full of these coins contaning 2500 large eagle cents and 1500 small eagle specimens were sent to Philadelphia to be distributed to legislators. Most were eventually released into circulation.

As is well known, Washington himself dissaproved of coins bearing his effigy, as this "has the stamp of royalty" in his own words. This is a tribute to general Washington and his democratic principles.

 

I bet it is environmental damage....looks a little porous.

 

Thanks for the info Cheetah Cats! Unfortunately, its almost impossible to see the rims without cracking the coin out, which I am still deciding on.

And Eduard, are you serious? There are only 1,500 pieces of these known to exist? And your one looks really nice, possibly a little better than mine! And yes, my colonial collection has expended great over the last year, I absolutely love them.

Thanks everyone for your kind inputs!

 

Ryan / Eduard -

I have rarer numbers for the "UNITED STATES" edge. (Nice specimen, btw Eduard )

I should have included them before...

Fuld-WA.1791.2 / Breen-1217 / W-10630: Copper
"UNITED STATES" edge.
Rarity: URS-10 == 250-499 Specimens Known to Exist

Fuld-WA.1791.2 / W-10632: Brass
"UNITED STATES" edge.
Rarity: URS-2, R-8 == 2 Specimens Known to Exist

Fuld-WA.1791.2a / Breen-1218 / W-10635: Copper
"MACCLESFIELD" edge.
Rarity: URS-3 == 3-4 Specimens Known to Exist

Fuld-WA.1791.2b / Breen-1219 / W-10640 / D&H Middlesex 1050a: Copper
"PAYABLE AT THE WAREHOUSE" edge.
Rarity: URS-2, R-8 == 2 Specimens Known to Exist

Fuld-WA.1791.3a / Breen-1224 / W-10645: Copper
plain edge.
Rarity: URS-1, R-9 == Only 1 Specimen Known / Unique

___________________
Source: Whitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins, Bowers, (c)2009, pgs.31, 263.

 

The last piece on Cheetah Cats list, the Breen 1224 should be dropped from the list. It has a different reverse die with Liverpool Halfpenny and a ship on it. I was sloppy in my D&H references and I missed the 1050b the Breen -1218. That one wasn't listed in D&H when it was published and didn't show up until an addendum in the 1990 edition. I question the Brass listing. It is identical to the Breen-1217 and I am loath to award a different listing based on the color of the metal unless there is an elemental analysis that proves the different composition. A cleaned and retoning copper piece can look a lot like a toning brass piece

1,500 known may be a little high. D&H lists it as Scarce which would be around R-4 on the Sheldon rarity scale or 76 - 200 estimated. Iwould say it is at the high end and has some claims to R-3+, maybe up to 350 around.

Got the manufacturer, they were also most likely made by John G Hancock.

 

I agree. Brass pieces were oftentimes confused with coppers, most especially in earlier catalogs, and too often more recent texts still include them. (Rulau and Miller are even more [in]famous for having lists of such (but that's a tangent.))