By Henry T. Hettger on Numismatic News

I was the underbidder on a raw unidentified 1796 U.S. large cent. It was advertised on eBay and closed Oct. 19. It was advertised as very fine, not mentioning the corrosion, and for Early American copper purposes, it might grade good or AG, depending on removal of crud and verdigris.

The very fine details help to clearly identify the variety as 1796 NC-7 Stemless Wreath. The date position seemed to match, and the lowest point of the “7” appeared to point directly to a dentil below. The reverse was clearly of the stemless type, first seen, although extremely rare on the 1796 cent. It is believed this 1796 large cent was actually coined in 1797 as it is paired with the stemless reverse die of 1797 S-143, a scarce number in 1797-dated cents. The S-143 stemless reverse appeared to match precisely in the eBay auction photograph. Read Full Story