THE STRAWBERRY LEAF CENT NUMISMATIC FISTFIGHT

Commentary: A rare prize that we (American Numismatic Rarities) had the privilege of "finding" again after decades out of the numismatic spotlight. Its history, provenance, and certain other pertinent aspects of this great rarity were discussed by John Kraljevich in our (American Numismatic Rarities') sale of the Frog Run Farm Collection in 2004, and the results of the study are included here; we could not have re-invented the description in a finer manner, and so present much of John's original cataloging here, as well in the earlier section of this description.

Among the 295 die varieties of early cents numbered by Dr. William Sheldon, in addition to the 53 varieties so rare he deemed them "non-collectible," no variety captures the imagination of early American copper specialists so much as the 1793 Strawberry Leaf cent. Only four specimens are known, all of which are well worn, a fact that no doubt contributes to the aura of mystery and desirability that surrounds them. The long-unknown whereabouts of the finest known specimen, a coin that is numerically twice as fine as the next best example, only adds to that aura and cachet. That finest known example reappeared in our 2004 Frog Run Farm Collection sale, and now, in 2020, bidders will once again have the opportunity to compete for this numismatic treasure in our current offering of the ESM Collection.

This coin is the Parmelee 1793 Strawberry Leaf cent, untraced from 1941 to 2004 and, prior to the latter year, not offered publicly since 1890. We were delighted in 2004 to be the first numismatic researchers since Sylvester S. Crosby to examine this coin, and we were honored to present it for public sale to collectors for the first time in 114 years. The obverse of this famous coin has been chosen to illustrate the Strawberry Leaf variety in every edition of the Guide Book since 1946, Ed Frossard's 1879 Monograph of United States Cents and Half Cents, issued Between 1793 and 1857, and Sylvester S. Crosby's 1897 The United States Coinage of 1793. The reverse of this coin was likewise illustrated in Crosby's work on 1793s, and both the obverse and reverse are plated in the 2006 edition of United States Large Cents by William C. Noyes.

David U. Proskey was the first to identify the reverse die of the 1793 NC-3 variety, with its distinctive high positioning of ONE CENT, and it was the present coin that served as the discovery specimen. Proskey cataloged this exact example when it was offered as lot 201 in J.W. Scott's sale of October 23 to 24, 1877...

The history of this specimen is nearly as fascinating as the Strawberry Leaf variety itself. After its discovery by Proskey as the first with the high ONE CENT reverse, the piece was purchased at auction by famous Boston bean baker Lorin G. Parmelee (for more on Parmelee, see below). While Parmelee enjoyed "horse trading," this piece was not sold until his entire cabinet was consigned to auction in 1890. It was purchased by another Bostonian, a physician named Dr. Thomas Hall who is best known for his pioneering 1892 work on varieties of Connecticut coppers.

After his death in May 1909, the entire Hall cabinet was purchased intact by Chicago brewing magnate Virgil Brand, including hundreds of colonial coins, large cents, and medals.

As noted above, the most famous (though perhaps not the most recent) case of numismatic fisticuffs revolved around a specimen of this precise variety. As described in Carl Carlson's superb article for the November 1978 edition of The Numismatist titled "Strawberry Leaves and Shiners," the ANS example of the NC-3 was the root of a physical struggle between two of the most respected dealers of their era: Ed Frossard and Lyman Low. When the Merritt-Haines-ANS specimen was presented for public sale in December 1894 as part of Frossard's 130th auction, for some reason Lyman Low called Frossard a "liar," though what he lied about is not recorded.

Two later recollections of the scene have survived and both describe how Frossard and Low ended up rolling around on the floor until pulled apart by Harlan P. Smith, who lost a diamond stickpin in the fracas. Augustus G. Heaton noted the "two numismatic sages were soon mixed up on a dusty floor in a manner that would have made football adversaries envious of their combative qualities until, in a badly circulated condition, they were dragged apart by dismayed spectators."

Charles Steigerwalt, who sold the piece offered today to Dr. Thomas Hall after the Parmelee sale, noted in a 1911 piece that the Parmelee specimen "described as 'good' was really 'fine' and the best known" and went on in the sale article to state that Frossard and Low "rolled around on the floor of the auction room, trying to kick each other." Notably, Carlson chose to illustrate his article with a photo of this exact specimen, taken from the 1897 Crosby plate.

To read the complete article, see:
1793 Flowing Hair Cent. Wreath Reverse. NC-3. Rarity-8-. Strawberry Leaf. VG-10 (PCGS). (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-NKRTO/1793-flowing-hair-cent-wreath-reverse-nc-3-rarity-8-strawberry-leaf-vg-10-pcgs)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web