This Chain cent appeared on the April 1869 Levick plate, the first photographic plate of large cents that appeared in the American Journal of Numismatics.

This lovely 1793 Chain cent, like most early coins, has considerable character and individuality. It combines outstanding technical quality with an historic provenance that dates back nearly 150 years, one of the longest ownership records of any Chain cent known today.

This Chain cent appeared on the April 1869 Levick plate, the first photographic plate of large cents that appeared in the American Journal of Numismatics. The Levick plate was also the first systematic attempt at the classification of large cent varieties. Twelve obverse dies and 10 reverse dies were illustrated in an arrangement of 15 different varieties. The photography was by Joseph N.T. Levick, with the descriptions and arrangements by Sylvester S. Crosby. The achievement was remarkable for the time, as only seven additional die marriages have been discovered in the 141 years since that publication.

R.W. Julian wrote in an article on the 1793 cents in the May 1990 issue of Coins magazine: “There is probably more fascination with the 1793 issues of the Philadelphia Mint than any other coinage of this country, yet the average collector knows little of this far-off year.”

The 1793 Chain cents, beginning with the famous Chain AMERI cent, were the first federal coins actually struck at the U.S. Mint early that year. The entire production of 36,103 coins (of all five known varieties), took place in early March, although R.W. Julian, Walter Breen, and others speculated that some may have been minted on February 22, marking President Washington’s birthday. (more…)

Heritage Auction Galleries is proud to present the astonishing Donald R. Frederick Collection of Early US Coinage: Bayside Part Two including 443 Bust Half Dollar varieties at the 2010 April-May Milwaukee, WI CSNS US Coin Auction, April 28-May 1 in Milwaukee.

The Frederick Collection will be featured in a dedicated catalog, and will feature both exceptional pedigrees (and many prior auction flips) and his extensive notes on his varieties.

The late Mr. Frederick was an enthusiastic and long-standing member of the Bust Half Nut Club (BHNC), which was established in the late 1960s, and he took very seriously their dedication to collecting, studying, and sharing information about Bust Halves.

He also shared that group’s fascination with die states. Incidentally, owning 100 different Bust die marriages is required for BHNC membership; Mr. Frederick had no problems on that score! With 443 varieties (including two specimens and the discovery coin of the 1833 O-115), his collection ranks third currently in the BHNC census by completion and overall grade.

In a tradition that we would like to encourage with such variety-based collections, Mr. Frederick’s working copy of the Overton reference will be sold after his coins!

Don Frederick was born in Manhattan, grew up in Bayside, New York, and attended Tufts University in Boston. The fascination with rare coins that started as a young boy lasted his entire life. Even though he was clearly dedicated to Bust halves, he loved all coins, especially the early Federal issues, and this auction also includes more than three hundred of them.

Heritage was honored to sell Bayside Part One, Mr. Frederick’s collection of 120 halves minted 1794-1807, in our 2008 Baltimore ANA Auction; the Bust Halves in Part Two equal the earlier offerings in beauty and rarity.

The Norweb Collection was a legend while still owned by its namesake family, and while two decades have passed since the three auctions that dispersed most of it, time has only added to its importance to collectors.

Quality and rarity are the chief watchwords; no discussion of early copper, colonials, proof silver, or early and Southern-Western gold would be complete without acknowledging the Norweb influence and legacy. Rarities such as a Gem Proof 1829 Small Planchet half eagle and an 1885 Trade dollar stand out in the auction, as does the famed 1861 Paquet double eagle.

Similarly, Harry W. Bass, Jr. built his knowledge and his collection into formidable forces whose effects on current and future numismatists continue to unfold. While his study of early gold coinage is first to come to mind (especially to those who peruse the early gold listings in this catalog, which are attributed by Bass-Dannreuther numbers), though as with the Norwebs, he also had extensive holdings in Charlotte and Dahlonega gold, as well as classic proof gold.

With all of the emphasis on the two collections’ 18th and 19th century rarities, a number of important later pieces in both collections have gone under the radar of many enthusiasts. Doubtless the Norwebs’ 20th century holdings would be better-remembered if their 1913 Liberty nickel had been sold at auction and not turned over to the Smithsonian, for example. Similarly, the detailed note-taking of Bass did not extend to 20th century issues, which were less interesting to a student of die varieties than their forebears.

Yet both collections contained a number of important 20th century coins, both recognized at the time of auction and unheralded but now appreciated. The 1911-D quarter eagle Heritage is offering in their 2010 March Fort Worth, TX Signature ANA US Coin Auction was one of the former, a coin that attained considerable individual fame with its modern-era debut at the Norweb auction; it had been sold to the Norwebs by B. Max Mehl, likely in the late 1930s. It was graded MS64 by the auctioneers, who then went on to say, “We have never seen a finer specimen.” (more…)