Mind-Boggling MS66 Error! Early error coins are scarce in general, but this coin is incredible. This piece ranks among the most amazing half cents of the 1790s that we have handled.
Regardless of grade or variety, this impressive coin is the only 1795 half cent that PCGS has certified as Red and Brown (3/2022). The reflective olive-brown surfaces retain splashes of mint red with delicate violet and blue overtones. This piece is struck on a planchet that was cut-down from an off-center large cent.
While cut-down to half-cent size, it was not rolled out to half-cent thickness, and retains bold detail from the large cent at 11 o’clock. All that remains from the large cent are the tops of the letters AME, but from that, attribution as 1795 S-76b was possible, courtesy of a patient numismatist.
Illustrated at the PCGS Set Registry record of the McGuigan Collection. This is Ronald Manley’s primary illustration in The Half Cent Die State Book 1793-1857. Plated on page 207 of Ed Fuhrman’s The Half Cent Handbook, Liberty Cap Varieties, 1793-1797. 1795 Plain Edge, No Pole, B-5b, C-5b, Low R.4 — Struck Over a 1795 S-76b Cent — MS66 Red and Brown PCGS. Our EAC Grade MS66.
Stefan Proynov: Expert on wrong coins for Europe – I couldn’t miss this unique coin
