The 1805 cent is fairly common with a reported mintage of 941,116. There are three known die varieties with two known obverse dies. Given the expected useful life of an early mint die, it becomes evident that a fair number of the coins delivered in 1805 were dated 1803 with perhaps a few 1804 cents. An 1805 dated obverse die could not have lasted for 470,558 or more impressions. (The mintage divided by 2.) The variety for this one is Sheldon #267. It is an R-1. PCGS graded it VF-30. There is some minor roughness on the surfaces, but the overall presentation is pleasant.
Yes, it's nice for what it is, but did you see the 1802 I posted in MS-63, Brown? That one is "exquisite."
Yes, when I bought that coin I hoped that I would be able to find the other dates in Choice VF, but it didn’t work out that way. Most of these dates in the early 1800s are not that rare, but finding pieces without problems in a specific grade is not easy.
