I need a little help with this cent. Let us see what the experts say. I hope the image is good enough to work with. Thanks in advance!
That is a nice looking cent...I am still learning about these so will be interested in seeing what others think...........
With the complete hair curl to the left of the 1 and the LIBERTY down close to forehead it has to be S-67 thru S-71. There are only two reverse dies used for those coins Rev MM with a double leaf below the D in UNITED used on S-67, 68, and 69. And Rev NN with a triple leaf below the D used on S-70 and 71. Yours has the triple leaf. Then look at the junction of the hair and forehead below the T. On S-70 it is below the left foot of the T. That isn't yours. On S-71 it is about under the right edge of the upright. That matches your coin. S-71
I know I'm late to the party and I trust Conder more than my own eyes. Here's how i GO ABOUT LOOKING AT 1794S: 1. Wide M or narrow M. The Wide M is usually a later variety and the narrow M is usually an earlier variety. This has the Wide M. So I work back from the end. 2. Next look at the Curl. S-72 has no Curl. This has a large round curl. Eliminated 3. NC-3 has a double leaf under O(F). This has a triple leaf. Not NC-3 4. S-71 has a Triple leaf under (E)D. This one does as well. Reverse JJ. This is diagnostic for this reverse. Confirm with legend locations, berries and stems just in case it's new. Nope. Reverse JJ it is. 5. Two (known) marriages for Reverse JJ. S-70 and S-71. The base of R is left of the highest hair with 7 low and close to 9 on the S-71 (Obverse 37). Same as on subject. S-70 The base of R is above the Highest hair with 7 equally spaced and level. Nope. Eliminated. 6. Double check spacing of LIBERTY and 1794 with portrait and dentils (just in case it's new). Everything matches. I confirm it as S-71. My method is similar to, but not identical to Conder's, but you'll notice both are systematic observation of known identifying characteristics. It amazes me how far those early collectors advanced the knowledge with descriptions without the widespread availability of photography.
I'm glad I followed this one along as it is always fascinating to see how folks arrive at attributing these early cents..~~
Okay, I am looking at a Gilbert Elder Book for United States Cents of 1794 using the Hays numbers.. and finding the coin from the obverse plate. I'm going to take my own stab from comparing and reading. Hopefully, someone can let me know how I did... I'm seeing Hays number 52 for the obverse and 51 for the reverse. I can write down the descriptor for this conclusion if anyone is interested to see if I hit the marks rather well if at all..
im not good at explaining the way i come to certain conclusions like conder or marshall so its that much harder for me to tell someone who would know nothing about large cents.
Thank you all for your help. I could not have hoped for a more complete (and methodical) answer. Thank you! I guess I made a slight mistake when I bought this coin (but not one which I terribly regret), as I already have a S-71 which I posted in this thread a few years back. http://www.cointalk.com/t28249/ I wasn't entirely sure that this last one was an S-71, so I went ahead and bought it. Oh well, now I have two of the same variety. Again, thank you for your help. Eduard
While the detail in your earlier one, especially the reverse is more defined, I actually like this one better. I think it has a much more ascetically authentic appeal, at least in my opinion.
I don't have a copy of Sheldon here so I don't have a direct Sheldon to Hayes cross reference. I don't remember a Gilbert - Elder book on the 1794's (I do have their work on the 1796's), but I do have a copy of Frossard - Hayes on the 94's and from that it looks like S-71 was the same as H-52. H-52 had the same reverse as H-51. The description of H-51 matches that of S-70 so I would say you have come to the same decision that we did.
Good, glad I was able to reach the same conclusion... The Gilbert-Elder reference was on the front of the book version I have.. the inside cover states Frossard-Hayes.. so it is the same book.. I got my copy from the internet archive website.. so the images are scanned but I got a decent copy so the scans look pretty good... I've the 1796 book as well... I also found a copy of Monograph of United States cents and half cents issued between the years 1793 and 1857 by Frossard as well..
