ANSWER: WHO HAD ALL VARIETIES OF 1793 CENTS?

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V17 2014 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 40, September 28, 2014, Article 10

Who was the only person ever to complete a collection (100%) of all the varieties of 1793 cents?

In the last issue of The E-Sylum, Jim Neiswinter asked “Who was the only person ever to complete a collection (100%) of all the varieties of 1793 cents?” My initial reaction is that no one ever had them all. The unique 1793 NC-5 was donated to the ANS in 1946 and the NC-6 was not discovered until about 1978. In discussion with Jim, he clarified that he was looking for a collection that was 100% complete according to the currently known varieties.

The Dr. Thomas Hall collection was cataloged by Frossard number. In his inventory he did not list Frossard 6 which is now believed to be the same as Frossard 7. He also did not have Frossard 13 with the second reverse (S-15). He had only one edge variety for Frossard 9 (S-11a) His inventory also included new cents discovered after the publication of Frossard.

When Sylvester Sage Crosby wrote his description of the cents of 1793, he relied heavily on the collection of Hall. He described 21 different varieties. Although he mentioned two edge varieties of 11-J, he did not assign them different numbers. By 1897, Hall’s collection included all the known 1793 varieties with the exception of 12-K, the variety now known as S-15. Hall died in May of 1909, and his collection was acquired by Virgil Brand on September 7, 1909.

On May 25, 1919, Brand acquired the collection of Carl Wutzbach including his 1793 12-K (S-15). Wurtzback also had two edge varieties of Crosby 11-J (S-11a and S-11b) Wurtzback was missing the NC varieties. This then gave Brand the complete collection to meet the requirement of the Neiswinter challenge. However, Brand did not have one of the edge varieties or the NC-6 that had not yet been discovered. Thus Brand’s collection is considered complete but had one coin fewer than Dan Holmes.

Virgil Brand died in 1926 and his estate passed to his son Armin. On February 7, 1941, Armin consigned a group of 17 condition census 1793 cents to St. Louis dealer Burdette G. Johnson. The group included all five known varieties that Dr. Sheldon would later designate as “non’collectible.”

In describing the varieties of the cents of 1793, Dr. Sheldon gave numbers to the varieties of S-1 through S-16. There were two additional edge varieties of S-11 and five varieties with NC numbers NC-1 through NC-5. That made 23 different varieties. A new variety, NC-6, was discovered about 1978.

Dan Holmes acquired a set of 1793 cents that included all the varieties except the unique NC-5 that was impounded in the ANS collection. The collections of Hall and Holmes were remarkable for being assembled one coin at a time. Brand, on the other hand, just bought up large collections.

I also teased Jim that he should include Tristram Dalton. Dalton was the Mint Treasurer who received all struck coins from the coiners. Thus he really had 100% of the 1793 cents.

Virgil Brand is the correct answer. He completed the set of all known 1793 varieties in just two purchases. The first was from Dr. Thomas Hall in 1909. Hall owned every variety of 1793, including all NCs known (5) at that time, except for the C14K (S15). Ten years later Brand purchased a set of large cents from Carl Wurtzbach (Brand's cousin). Among this group was the ninth finest C14K. So Brand's set of 1793 varieties was 100% complete. The NC6 was not discovered until 1977. The Dan Holmes collection lacked only the unique NC5 that is in the ANS collection.

I'm impressed by the time put in by Pete in finding the answer. The only critique I have is that by 1897 two new obverses ( NC1 & S7 ) had been discovered sine the 1869 AJN article on the Types and Varieties of U. S. Cent, 1793`. So the 12k was now the 14K. I'd really be impressed if anyone else (besides maybe Joel Orosz or Dave Bowers) knew who Tristram Dalton was.