Houston Jan 2025

LOT 457 1822 N-12 R4 VF30 . Glossy light chocolate brown and steel. Smooth and attractive, nearly flawless. A tiny nick off the forehead and another left of star 11 are the best identifying marks, and they are trivial. MDS. The vertical die crack down through star 7 through BE to the curl left of the ear is clear.

LOT 456 1822 N-11 R2 PCGS graded AU53 . Choice frosty medium chocolate brown and steel with traces of lighter brown and tan in protected areas. Sharply struck with light friction on the devices and trivial marks. A small, light tick under the ribbon loop may help identify this cent. EDS, Grellman state a early, with a sharp inner circle at the dentil tips from under the date clockwise to beyond star 7. Our grade is EF45+, close to AU50. The attribution is noted on the PCGS label. Certification Number 36742.53/38206395

Ex Thomas D. Reynolds 8/1998-Maurice Shephard-Al Nelson Collection (includes the Shephard collection envelope)

Ex Stack’s 4/27/1988:2157-Carvin Goodridge-Goodridge Estate, McCawley & Grellman Auctions/Goldbergs 6/2/2013:412-John Pijewski-Chris McCawley 2/11/2023-Al Nelson Collection (includes the Goodridge and Pijewski collection envelopes and both lot tickets)

LOT 458 1822 N-13 R5 G4 . A couple points sharper with patches of crusty verdigris from star 10 to star 12 and more areas of hard, raised verdigris on the reverse, mostly inside the wreath. Rather glossy medium steel brown and light chocolate. EDS.

Ex Rodney C. Burress-Al Nelson Collection (includes the Burress sales envelope) 

THE KEY 1822 N-14 RARITY

LOT 459 1822 N-14 R6+ NGC Good Details, Damaged . Glossy light steel brown. No corrosion or verdigris but there are several significant marks on both sides, and a dent at RI in AMERICA caused an obvious bulge at star 11. On the plus side the date is strong and most of the devices are clear. Graded VG8 net Fair-2 by Noyes, his photo #62480. Our grade is net Fair-2. This variety was unknown until 1984. It is easily identified as the only 1822 with the legend very close to the wreath, especially ME in AMERICA to the leaf below. This reverse was first used to strike the 1821 N-1 variety and it appears here in a later die state with a die crack across the lower reverse from the I in UNITED to the C in AMERICA. Apparently only a few were struck from this die pair before this 1821 reverse die was replaced and the 1822 N-8 strikes began. The obverse die is sharp and looks new. Arguably you could postulate this was probably the first variety struck using the 1822 date. Since the discovery of the 1822 N-14 variety in 1984 there have been 13 additional examples uncovered, and all are in relatively low grade. The finest is the 1984 discovery coin graded F12, and it brought $72,000 as lot #80 in our 9/2/2022 Early Cents Auctions sale of the Colonel Steven K. Ellsworth Collection. At present the 1822 N-14 is the rarest business strike variety in the 1816-1839 series of US Large Cents. Certification Number 3675349-002

Discovered unattributed by Donald Weathers 4/2007-Heritage Auctions 3/2014:10013-Heritage Auctions (2016 ANA Sale) 8/2016:3084-Shawn A. Yancey-Al Nelson Collection (includes the last lot ticket)

123 Photos of all lots can be found at www.earlycentsauctions.com