1793
Chain AMERICA 1C NGC AU55 BN Click on Coin Image to
enlarge
1793
Chain AMERICA 1C NGC AU55 BN - $114,500.
AMERICA VARIETY.
S-3. WELL STRUCK. This is a more than pleasing, midrange,
circulated example of the classic 1793 Flowing Hair,
Chain “America” cent. This 1793 Chain
AMERICA 1C NGC AU55 BN is appealing to those assembling
a set of all major design types. It also needs to
be considered by anyone interested collecting Large
cents by date or type. It most certainly appeals to
collectors of early copper in general.
This coin is among the first
struck at the first Mint in Philadelphia. The Chain
cent has been prized as long as people have been collecting
American coinage. This one is an important survivor
as an example of the spelled-out AMERICA reverse subtype.
It is identified as Sheldon 3 by the irregular letters
of LIBERTY in both size and position. The R is too
large and too high, and it leans to the right. The
date is nearer the point of the bust than the hair.
The S-2 and the S-4, the other AMERICA reverse coins
are struck from the same reverse but different obverse
dies.
Please contact me by email
or telephone 1-941-291-2156
to reserve this great coin.
Henry Voigt designed the Flowing Hair,
Chain cent. The AMERICA subtype is actually a correction
of the first cent that has AMERI. because of a spacing
error. The obverse shows a profile of Liberty looking
to the right. Her hair is untied, and she wears no
cap, hence the designation Flowing Hair. LIBERTY is
above the portrait and the date is below. Contemporary
critics said that Miss Liberty appeared to be “in
a fright.” The reverse shows a fifteen-link
chain motif, intended to represent the unity of the
Union, with each link representing a state at the
time. The chain design was criticized as being a “bad
omen for liberty.” Within the chain is the denomination
ONE CENT on two lines with the fraction 1/100 below,
which causes us to remember that the public still
had to be reminded that a cent was part of the decimal
system rather than pounds, shillings and pence. The
legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is at the periphery.
The rims are raised on both sides, and there are no
beads or dentils. The edge is designed with a Vine-and-Bars
pattern.
Henry Voigt was the first Chief Coiner
for the Mint. His permanent commission was signed
by President Washington on January 29, 1793, and he
remained in his position until his death in 1814.
Voigt was born in Pennsylvania in 1738. During the
Seven Years War of 1756 to 1763, his family moved
to Saxony Germany, their homeland. When the war was
over, he took a position at the Royal Mint of Saxony
where he learned how to use all of the machinery and
how to make every part himself. He even made improvements
to the minting machinery during his time there. He
was an ideal candidate to work at the first United
States Mint. When he returned to America, he worked
as a clockmaker in Philadelphia and became an assistant
to David Rittenhouse, a well known watch and clock
maker.
In 1771 he assisted Rittenhouse in
the construction of an orrery, a mechanical device
that illustrates the relative positions and motions
of the planets and moons in the Solar System. The
first orrery was made in 1704 and presented to the
Earl of Orrery, from whom the device received its
name. They are usually driven by a clock work mechanism.
When the Revolutionary War broke out, Voigt helped
manufacturer gears, guns, and gunlocks for the Continental
Army. In 1780 he manufactured wire in Reading, Pennsylvania,
and, with his brother Sebastian, once again became
a clockmaker.
In 1787 he developed a steam engine
to power a boat, and he and his brother manufactured
steam engines. Both applied for work at the new Mint.
Voigt gained the position probably because of his
previous association with David Rittenhouse. He became
Chief Coiner and Superintendent, the second person
in charge. He oversaw the construction of the buildings
and the installation of the equipment. In addition
to contemporary criticism of the cent, as noted above,
the Chain cent is recognized as a work done by an
amateur. Vermeule notes that the men who designed
America’s first coins were from backgrounds,
“… as diverse as those of the Revolutionary
patriots themselves.” It was not until the arrival
of Barber and Morgan that the Mint was fully staffed
by trained die engravers.
In his book The U.S. Mint and Coinage,
Don Taxay notes that, “Elias Boudinot remarked
that the chief coiner [Voigt] had been forced to make
the Mint’s dies until a permanent engraver could
be hired.” He goes on to say, “The 1793
chain cent is an exceedingly crude piece of work.”
The realization of this truth probably led Voigt to
assign Adam Eckfeldt to cut the new Wreath cent dies
for the coins that were issued in April 1793.
