Second Finest "Stemless Wreath" 1803
Sheldon 243, Breen 1 (Dies 1-A) : Bases of LIB close, shallow area in curls above 1. Reverse with Stemless Wreath, double fraction bar, and a much lower extra S below the second S in STATES. This reverse die was later used to strike 1802 Sheldon 241, Breen 20.
All 1803 cents struck with the Stemless Wreath reverse are from the Sheldon 243, Breen 1 die pair. The finest two examples are as follows:
- Noyes #20006, MS67 (60) Gem, PCGS MS66RB #11483669, ex Naftzger et al.
- Noyes #33400, MS65 (60) Choice, PCGS/CAC MS66RB #37110223, ex Reale et al.
Noyes ranks these as #1 and #2 at the top of his census, while Bland grades both coins as MS63 (EAC), and has them tied at the top of his census. PCGS grades them as tied at MS66RB, while CAC flips the Noyes ranking.
Knowing both coins well, I believe Noyes to be correct. His #20006 (PCGS #11483669), the Naftger coin, has clearly superior surfaces, although the color should be described more as “Brown-Red” than “Red-Brown”. This Noyes #33400 (PCGS/CAC #37110223), the Reale coin, has significantly more original mint red remaining, in fact, it is more red than any 1803 1c outside of the MS64RD S.254 (PCGS #02830390) struck on a defective flan. However, it has some light spotting that to me pushes it to a net second as my grades are Naftzger 66+ BN-RD and Reale 65+ RD-BN.
When sold in the Stack’s May 1968 sale of Willian Van Roden’s large cent collection, this coin was described as follows:
Brilliant Uncirculated Gem. Original Mint Red. Some of the mint color is just starting to subdue with light iridescence, 75% color still remains. There are two tiny planchet chips opposite the bust. The Helfenstein specimen which was billed as the finest known and absolutely incomparable now has a running mate for top honors … This is truly the highlight of this collection.
Stack’s, May 1968
Looking through the other high grade 1803s, the PCGS/CAC MS67RB S.257 is a good candidate for finest known of the date, selling last at Pogue, SB 3/2017:5120 @ $282,000, while the finest for type is clearly the MS66RD 1807/6. Overall, this, the Reale 1803 S.243 PCGS/CAC MS66RB, is likely in the top ten for the entire Draped Bust Cent type.
For pricing reference, the Helfenstein-Naftger MS66RB was sold by the Goldbergs in September 2008 as lot 186 at $241,500, then by Stack’s Bowers in January 2013 as lot 13015 at $199,750. The Reale coin last sold as part of the Doug Bird Collection at Goldbergs February 2020 as lot 101 at $78,000, clearly a COVID year price.
PCGS #37110223
Provenance
William Van Roden; Stack’s May 1968, lot 236 at $2,600 as “Brilliant Uncirculated Gem”; Gene Reale; Sotheby’s (New York) January 1998, lot 37 at $26,400. Later Richard Burdick, privately August 2002 to Douglas F. Bird; Ira & Larry Goldberg, February 2020, lot 101 at $78,000 as PCGS/CAC MS66RB.
