Torres Half Cent Collection

EARLY CENTS

LOT 25 1796 Edwards Copy, Kenny-1, Rarity 7-, AU55 PCGS. Choice glossy golden tan blending to light chocolate in protected areas. Smooth and essentially flawless with light friction on the highpoints. The Edwards copies of the 1796 half cent were struck using hand-made dies on rolled copper planchets that are a bit thinner and lighter than the genuine version. The workmanship is of good quality and the resulting design is a fairly accurate representation of the genuine article. These were struck sometime prior to 1865 by Dr. Frank Smith Edwards of New York, and the first auction appearance came in 1866. After the death of Dr. Edwards in 1865, Edward Cogan wrote that he had destroyed the dies and all but 12 of the remaining specimens. Dr. Edwards’ collection was sold in an auction conducted by Bangs, Merwin & Company in October 1865, and none of these copies was included in that sale. The first appearance of one of his copies in an auction occurred in 1866. These copies are highly sought and seldom appear for sale. The reported “surviving mintage” of 12 specimens appears to accurately represent the number of examples that escaped destruction, although we do not know how many were actually struck. Presently we can trace 11 examples, and that total has not changed in many years. These Edwards Copies are mentioned briefly in a note following the 1796 half cents on page 89 in the “Redbook”. A very nice, problem-free example of this popular copy. Our grade is AU50 Choice. 397325.55/28534844 $12,000 Ex Heritage Auctions 10/3/2001:5142 (as AU58)-Stack’s Bowers 11/5/2015:20002 (as MS63)-Chris McCawley 3/5/2016-The J. Torres Collection of Half Cents

FIXED PRICE LIST

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