PCGS SP61BN
PCGS SP58+BN
- PCGS #:
- 11001
- Designer:
- Henry Voight
- Edge:
- Reeded
- Diameter:
- 24.00 millimeters
- Weight:
- 4.48 grams
- Mintage:
- N/A
- Mint:
- Philadelphia
- Metal:
- Copper
- Auction Record:
- $2,520,000 • SP67BN • 01-24-2021 • Heritage Auctions
Rarity and Survival Estimates Learn More
| Survival Estimate | |
|---|---|
| All Grades | 25 |
| 60 or Better | 3 |
| 65 or Better | 1 |
| Numismatic Rarity | |
|---|---|
| All Grades | R-9.0 |
| 60 or Better | R-9.8 |
| 65 or Better | R-10.0 |
| Relative Rarity By Type All Specs in this Type | |
|---|---|
| All Grades | N/A |
| 60 or Better | N/A |
| 65 or Better | N/A |
| Relative Rarity By Series All Specs in this Series | |
|---|---|
| All Grades | N/A |
| 60 or Better | N/A |
| 65 or Better | N/A |
Condition Census What Is This?
#1 SP67BN PCGS grade
Col. James W. Ellsworth (via Wayte Raymond, March 1923) - John Work Garrett Collection - Johns Hopkins University Collection - Bowers & Ruddy 3/1981:2347, $95,000 - reportedly sold for $5 million in January 2012 |
|
#2 SP65BN PCGS grade
Col. Robert C.H. Brock Collection - University of Pennsylvania Collection - Philip H. Ward Collection - Charles Dochkus Collection - Harry Forman - New Netherlands, sold privately on 3/14/1958 - Norweb Collection - Bowers & Merena 11/1988:3392, $143,000 - Stack's 1/2002:724, $414,000 - Ed Milas - Marvin Browder Collection, sold privately in 2011 for a reported $2.5 million - Stuart Levine, Joe O’Connor, and Anthony Terranova, sold privately in 2011 - Oliver Jung Collection - Heritage 8/2014:5517, $1,997,500 |
|
#3 SP62BN estimated grade
F.C.C. Boyd Collection - Eric P. Newman Collection, who traded the Clinton cent from the Theodore Grand collection for this piece in 1951 - Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society - Heritage 5/2014:30426, $1,410,000 |
|
#4 SP61BN PCGS grade
Heritage 4/2012:5403, $1,150,000 |
|
#5 SP58 estimated grade
Cogan’s sale 4/1863 - Charles Ira Bushnell - S.H. & H. Chapman 6/1882:1766 - Lorin G. Parmelee - New York Stamp & Coin Co. 6/1890:5 - Harlan Page Smith - S.H. & H. Chapman 5/1906:1315 - George H. Earle - Henry Chapman 6/1912:2179 - Carl Wurtzbach - Virgil M. Brand - Col. E.H.R. Green - Belden Roach Collection - B. Max Mehl 2/1944:3111 - Will. W. Neil Collection - B. Max Mehl 6/1947:1794 - F. Eubanks - Stack’s 7/1952:174 - Mrs. R. Henry Norweb - New Netherlands 12/1958:104 - Corrado Romano Collection - Stack’s 6/1987:143 - Stack’s 1/1999:143 - Stack’s 10/2000:56, $178,250 - Heritage 4/25/2013:4113 (as NGC 3063611-001), $822,500 |
|
#6 SP45+ PCGS grade
Bernard Gimelson, sold privately on 5/15/1968) for $9,400 - Donald Groves Partrick Collection |
| #7 SP40 PCGS grade |
#8 SP20 PCGS grade
Joseph J. Mickley - W. Elliot Woodward 10/1867:2135 - Colonel Mendes I. Cohen - Bangs, Merwin & Co. 10/1875:380, $45 - William Sumner Appleton - bought back by Woodward on behalf of A. Dohrmann - A. Dohrmann Collection - W. Elliot Woodward 3/1882:437 - Lady of Western New York Collection - W. Elliot Woodward 2/1887:816 - Virgil Brand - Kreisberg-Schulman 3/1964:1106 - Roper Collection - Stack's 12/1983:425 - Lemus Collection - Queller Family Collection - Heritage 1/2009:1500, $253,000
|
|
#9 SP15 PCGS grade
Virgil Brand - J.C. Morgenthau - Floyd Starr - Stack's 10/1992:3, $35,200 - American Numismatic Rarities 8/2006:13, $253,000 - Premium Numismatics |
1792 saw a flurry of activity aimed at establishing a Mint in America. Congress passed a Mint Act, chose a Director, purchased a plot of land, erected a building, and hired employees.
Four prototypes of the One Cent piece were tested: a large copper piece (the "Birch" Cent), a smaller copper piece with a silver center (the Silver-Center Cent"), another of the same size (the Fusion Alloy Cent, in which the silver and copper were melted together), and another of the same size in pure copper. The Silver-Center Cent answered the concerns of then Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, who felt that a billon coin could be too easily counterfeited. However, the technical difficulties in producing quantities of the Silver-Center Cent remained. Although no written evidence remains to record the testing, clearly the large, pure copper piece was favored, as this was the chosen format when production of Large Cents began in 1793.
When Frank Stewart demolished the original Mint building circa 1924, he discovered some blank planchets for the Silver-Center Cents (missing the silver center). In 1994, Anthony Terranova discovered a struck Silver-Center Cent missing the silver center. The several experts who examined this piece believe that the silver center was never included and that the coin may have been a test piece to show the size of the new coin. The weight of this discovery piece was 72.6 grains. The planchet diameter measured 29.3 millimeters on the vertical axis and 29.2 millimeters along the horizontal axis. Planchet thickness varied from 1.3 to 1.4 mm.
Judd considered all the plain edge pieces to be counterfeits.
Credit for the design and engraving of the Silver-Center Cent normally goes to Henry Voigt, the first Chief Coiner of the U.S. Mint, however this assignment is subject to interpretation and is probably incorrect. The engraving skills shown on the Silver-Center Cent exceed those possessed by someone with no previous engraving experience.
At the 2015 American Numismatic Association Convention, PCGS began designating all Silver-Center Cents as SP (Specimen) instead of the previous (MS) Mint State.
Sources and/or recommended reading: "United States Pattern, Experimental and Trial Pieces" by J. Hewitt Judd, M.D.
"Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of United States and Colonial Coins" by Walter Breen
"United States Patterns And Related Issues" by Andrew W. Pollock III
"Silver Center Cents - Patterns Lay Claim To First Struck At Mint" by Paul Gilkes, COIN WORLD, February 21, 2000, pp. 78-79
There are fourteen known examples of the famous 1792 silver center cent. The finest of the fourteen survivors has been graded MS64BN by PCGS.