Thank you, @justafarmer ! Yes, my example is the S-18b (this is the most common of the heads of '93. S-18a, on the other hand, has the leaves on the edge device pointing upward and is much rarer). Very low grade, but I really like the distinctive double chin.
In case anybody is interested, the pair low grade/damaged '94's are varieties S-57 (on the left), and S-67 (on the right). Not real pretty but a deal as I paid 35 euros for both.
Being on holiday in Florida (83 F on November 23rd.!), I took the opportunity to attend the Ft. Myers bi-yearly Coin Show last Saturday. This a mid-size show, with about 40-50 dealers, well attended, and as far I could see, lots of buying/selling activity. There was a lot of material on offer. 95% of it US, and of course, lots and lots of coins in plastic. Morgans as far as the eye could see, but also some flowing hair, draped and capped bust silver, including some early dates. Naturally, I was looking out for early copper. There was a fair amount of 1816-1857 copper, some 1798-1814 cents (most of it 1802 and 1803, as one would expect since they are the most plentiful), a handful of 1795 - 1797 cents and half cents, and only one or two dated 1794, quite worn and damaged, and priced beyond reasonable. This confirms my observations that the cents of 1794 are relatively scarce.
Eduard... The last show I went to I found several tables with 1794 cents that were so slick they were little more than copper slugs. They too were priced exceedingly high in my view as well. Yes, I do believe your assessment is correct.
You are right, Randy. I did not want to labour the point, but the prices were so high on the early coppers in general, that I did not even feel it was worth asking for a 'best price'.
Whenever I see a thread about your favorite coin, I always think back to "my baby", a coin I bought (huma,huma,huma) years ago when I was in graduate school and really couldn't afford it at $300, but I HAD to have it. It was from an outfit called First Coinvestors (cheesy) that I bought a reasonable amount of stuff from. Someone on here gave me some info on what variety it was, but I misplaced it...
$300, ha? hmm....that was a lot of money when I was going to Grad school in the early 80's. My monthly scholarship was $300, and that was enough to cover rent and food. I sometimes wish I had bought more 94's instead... I wish I was better at attributing the varieties of 1794 cents. There are 56 of them + several NC's, and I don't have my books with me otherwise I would help you. Hopefully one of the real copper experts (of which there are a number on C.T) will see this and help out. PS- lest I forget, your $300 bought you a nice coin, by the way!
Great note- yes S-63 only. A note some may not know the reverse was proven to be from the reworked reverse die for the 1793 S-13.
Love the '94's; picked this one up recently. S-45, pretty scarce variety and a cool add to my low grade collection. Image courtesy PCGS:
Very interesting! Usually dies don’t get reworked so extensively, since I assume it would probably require annealing to make the die workable and then hardening after the reworking was done. I’m only aware of a couple other dies that were reworked after they were initially hardened.
One of the favorites in my humble collection, a low grade 1794 S-35 large cent; I sold it when I sold my collection of '94's but just had to get it back. It has been authenticated and graded by PCGS as G4, and the EAC grade is consistent. Everything is visible on both sides, but you have to turn the coin under a light to make it all out. Late die state (LDS) with an obverse die crack between E/R. From Al Boka's page: Sheldon 35 • R5+ "Frossard Variety" Hays 29 G-4 Glossy with vert. obverse scratch from behind eye to base of neck. Robinson S. Brown • Del Bland (ANA 1989) • Douglas F. Bird • Gary Ruttenburg • Shawn A. Yancey (Collector's Coin Co.), 3/56/2010 • Jack D. Young, 11/2012 • Shawn A. Yancey (Collector's Coin Co.)1/20/2013 • Travis Thompson, 2/2015 • Jack D. Young. Quite a provenance, and it is also imaged on the PCGS CoinFacts website.
Congratulations, Jack! I do not believe I have see your example before. Nice and Rare. I am glad you were able to bring her back home.