1850 Pattern Annular, or Ring-Form Cent. Original. Judd-119, Pollock-134.

1850 Pattern Annular, or Ring-Form Cent. Original. Judd-119, Pollock-134. Rarity-6-. Billon. Plain Edge. Proof-65 (PCGS). PCGS has mounted this coin backwards in the holder. Obv: The legend USA curving above and the inscription ONE TENTH SILVER curving below the central perforation. Rev: Central perforation with the word CENT above, the date 1850 below, and two eight-petaled flowers flanking. A handsome and original example with gently mottled sandy-gold and pale silver patina on surfaces that reveal glints of underlying brilliance as the coin dips into a light. With this pattern the Mint thought that a copper cent with a trace of silver, and in small diameter, could be produced to yield a profit. However, several years later, on May 26, 1854, James Ross Snowden, then director of the Mint (since 1853), wrote to Secretary of the Treasury James Guthrie, noting that when eventually such billon pieces were redeemed after use, the cost of recovering the silver would exceed the value the silver metal obtained. Further: The mechanical difficulties in making ring cents are not trivial. They lie not in planchet cutting but in stamping in ejecting the coin from the dies. I estimate that most of the value of a cent so formed would be sunk in the cost of striking. The uspatterns.com website accounts for between one and two dozens examples of Judd-119, some of which are originals, as here, others restrikes. All were struck from a badly broken obverse die, also as here. Provenance: From Heritage's sale of the Bob R. Simpson Collection, February 2021 Signature Auction, lot 3129. PCGS Population: 7; 0 finer. PCGS# 11511. NGC ID: 2982. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Image with the PCGS TrueView logo is obtained from and is subject to a license agreement with Collectors Universe, Inc. and its divisions PCGS and PSA.

Estimate:£0.75

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