The 1801 Three Errors cent is an example of the low moral at the mint. Congress was still pushing to close the facility and it’s location was in doubt. The law which authorized the mint called for the facility to be located in the capital city of The United States. After the capital moved to Washington, DC, the location of the mint, by law, should have followed it. There were even plans for the lot where it would go on Pennsylvania Avenue. That did not happen. Instead Congress agreed to allow the mint to stay in Philadelphia. This was the first of a series of laws which Congress passed to allow the mint to stay in Philadelphia for five year periods. Congress extended the deadline several times until, finally in 1828 a resolution was passed which allowed the mint to stay in Philadelphia permanently. The 1801 Three Errors Cent had the die making mistakes located in the lower left of the reverse. The die sinker forgot to cut the left stem on the wreath. The “U” in “UNITED” was first punched up-side down and then right side up which resulted in a letter which looked like “II.” Finally, the undefined fraction, “1/000” was punched into the bottom of the reverse. The coin above is an example of Sheldon #219. It is the more common variety with the three error reverse. It is rated as an R-2, almost an R-1, but the variety has long been popular which commands premium prices. The second three errors reverse variety is Sheldon #218. It has a different obverse, and the large die crack which runs from the “000” in the fraction through the word “UNITED,” does not show. It is rated as an R-5, 46 to 60 pieces known, under the new, expanded rarity scale. This coin has the sharpness of a VG to Fine, but it would not receive a straight grade from the third party graders because of cleaning. I bought it many years ago for less than $200 in an EAC auction because I wanted to have the variety. I bought a second one at the same sale because I was not sure I would end up with this one in the auction. I sold the second one for a profit the week after I got home from the show.
