Pre-Long Beach Auction #84

1798 S-166 R1 Large 8, Style II Hair VF35. Glossy light olive and steel brown with overtones of sea green and light bluish steel. There is very little wear on this cent but the strike is uneven, as often seen on this variety, thanks to dies that were out of proper axial alignment (the die faces were not parallel). This improper die alignment probably caused the strong die crack on the reverse which is located at the place where the dies came the closest when striking a cent. The crack must have occurred very early in the marriage and an uncracked example is unknown. No roughness or verdigris and only a few trivial contact marks. The notable ones are a short diagonal scratch in the field off the lower end of the hair ribbon and a couple very small nicks on the neck. MDS, Breen state IV, with a strong die crack arcing from the dentils through the E in UNITED, the wreath, and the fraction ending at the rim under the right side of the denominator. The reverse is rotated 35 degrees CCW. The bust, lower half of the 798, and the opposing OF-A on the reverse are all weakly struck.
Estimated Value $1,000-UP.