1795 1C S-76a, BN (Regular Strike)
Series: Liberty Cap Cents 1793-1796
PCGS MS65BN
PCGS AU55BN
PCGS AU50BN
- PCGS #:
- 35720
- Designer:
- Attributed to Robert Scot
- Edge:
- Lettered: ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR
- Diameter:
- 28.00 millimeters
- Weight:
- 13.48 grams
- Mintage:
- N/A
- Mint:
- Philadelphia
- Metal:
- Copper
- Auction Record:
- $155,250 • MS65 • 09-06-2009 • Goldberg Auctioneers
Die Varieties
Condition Census What Is This?
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#1 PCGS MS65BN
Richard B. Winsor; Carl Wurtzbach; Virgil M. Brand; Burdette G. Johnson, 1940; "The C. David Pierce Collection," Hollinbeck Stamp & Coin Co. 1945 Fixed Price List, Lot 16; Dr. William H. Sheldon, April 19, 1972; R.E. "Ted" Naftzger, Jr., February 23, 1992; Eric Streiner; Jay Parrino (The Mint), April 16, 1996; W.M. "Jack" Wadlington, May 2005; Bob Grellman & Chris McCawley, June 30, 2005; "The Daniel W. Holmes, Jr. Collection," Goldberg Auctioneers, September 6, 2009, Lot 120; "The Douglas F. Bird Collection," Goldberg Auctioneers, February 16, 2020, Lot 24; "The Collections of Walter J. Husak and the Liberty Cap Foundation," Heritage Auctions, January 4, 2024, Lot 2068 - $66,000. S-76a. A duplicate from the collection of C. David Pierce. |
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#2 PCGS AU55
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#3 PCGS AU50BN
H.E. Jones (Edinburgh, Scotland), Scott & Co. October 10, 1878, Lot 212 - $100; "The W.W. Thurston Collection," S.K. Harzfeld September 10, 1880, Lot 108 - $35; Edouard Frossard; "The John E. Burton Collection," W. Elliot Woodward, October 26, 1881, Lot 140 - $30; W. Elliot Woodward, July 11, 1882, Lot 336 - $45; unknown intermediary; "The Arthur Sargent Collection," Samuel Hudson Chapman, June 20, 1913, Lot 469 - $16; Charles E. Clapp, Sr., 1924; George H. Clapp; Carnegie Institute; Ray Byrne; George W. "Hank" Rodgers; John W. Adams, 1972; "The Robinson S. Brown, Jr. Collection," Superior Galleries, September 30, 1986, Lot 100 - $3,300; Douglas F. Bird; "The Michael Kramer Collection," Bowers & Merena, September 12, 1994, Lot 1128 - $2,860; Anthony J. Terranova, December 1995. As PCGS AU50 #13470605. "The Walter J. Husak Collection," Heritage Auctions, February 15, 2008, Lot 2078 - $12,650; Walter H. Reed May 2008. As PCGS AU50BN #43987704. "The Colonel Steven Ellsworth Collection of U.S. Large Cents, 1793-1796," Heritage Auctions, January 8, 2026, Lot 2082 - $10,370. S-76a. Die State II. |
Large Cents produced at the Philadelphia Mint in early 1795 had lettered edges, as in prior years. Later in the year, 1795 Large Cents had plain, unlettered edges. This came about because of an official reduction in the weight of the individual Large Cents from 208 to 168 grains. The effect of this change was to save money on the production of Large Cents, but it also reduced their thickness so that edge lettering could not be applied properly. Thus, all the Large Cents after 1795 (with the exception of the experimental Gripped Edges) have plain, unlettered edges. Because the denomination already appeared at the base of the reverse, the edge lettering was redundant, nor was its existence necessary to prevent clipping (which never occurred on Large Cents anyway).
Sheldon 76a is the last of the heavyweight Large Cents. Lighter version were made later in the year using the same dies -- these are known as S-76b. However, some of the heavyweight planchets bypassed the edge lettering process, thus we have a few S-76a's without edge lettering -- these are known as S-76a/b, they are generally considered to be mint errors, and they are not required in a complete die variety collection. To make things even more interesting, an S-76 exists with edge lettering on a thin planchet.
The 1795 Liberty Cap Cent, Sheldon-76a
The Sheldon-76 die marriage (combining Obverse 3 and Reverse C) was used to strike both lettered-edge cents (Sheldon-76a, BN #35720) and plain-edge cents (Sheldon-76b, BN #35723). The lettered-edge variety is the scarcest die marriage among 1795 Lettered Edge cents, whereas the plain-edge version is the most common among Plain Edges. This is a classic early-date variety that knowledgeable copper collectors loved cherrypicking from unsuspecting coin shops in the 1950s and 1960s.
The obverse die features the flag of the "5" tucked into Liberty's bust truncation (a feature also shared Sheldon-73 (BN #35711)), alongside a shifted placement of LIBERTY over the head. However, the true giveaway for this variety is the high placement of ONE CENT on the reverse: ONE is tucked high, just below the upper inner leaves, with the left serif of the "N" in CENT positioned near the center point. Normally, ONE CENT is centered symmetrically within the wreath.
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