Liberty Cap Half Cent

1797 Liberty Cap Half Cent. C-3b. Rarity-4. Low Head. Lettered Edge. VF-20 BN (NGC).

A scarce and conditionally challenged Cohen number offered in solid mid grade preservation. Evenly toned in medium copper-brown, the surfaces are generally hard and tight with the only carbon spot of note on the reverse within the upper right portion of the wreath. Marks are more significant on the obverse, on which side we note wispy pin scratches and, in the right field, a few sizeable marks. Upper reverse a bit soft, otherwise we note pleasingly bold detail for the assigned grade. Cohen-3b is the Lettered Edge variety of the 1797 Low Head half cent, all examples of which were struck on spoiled large cents. This variety has been eagerly sought by specialists since before the Civil War. The earliest known auction appearance was in Edward Cogan's sale of May 31, 1860, and the Mickley sale of 1867 also included one. Even before the turn of the 20th century numismatists had recognized the rarity of this Cohen number. In the May 1880 edition of Coin Collector's Journal, David U. Proskey stated of the Lettered Edge 1797 half cent, "We do not believe more than five are known in this country." Today approximately 75 examples of the 1797 C-3b are believed extant (per Bill Eckberg, 2019), which is certainly more than had been confirmed in Proskey's day, but still far too small a number to satisfy demand from early copper specialists. The grade distribution of this variety is similar to most others in the Liberty Cap half cent series: most are in the lowest circulated grades, often impaired. Prior to this sale we had offered only nine examples at auction since 2003, the finest of which was a PCGS VF-30 that realized $14,400 as lot 3093 in our March 2020 Auction. Six of the remaining eight were impaired, the sole "straight graded" coins in that group the Reiver-ESM specimen in PCGS VF-20 and a PCGS VG-10. While not in the same league as the two (!) Missouri Cabinet specimens (PCGS AU-53 and EF-45), the present example is still distinctly finer than most 1797 C-3b half cents and would make a significant addition to an advanced holding.

PCGS# 35113. NGC ID: 2U6H.

Estimate: 5000