1792 Cent Pattern - J-3, Birch Cent, Plain Edge

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,175,000 • AU58 PCGS CAC • 03-2015 • Stack's Bowers (Kendall Foundation)

Description

The 1792 Birch Cent with plain edge is one of the earliest and most iconic pattern coins in American numismatics, struck as a proposed design for the new nation's one-cent piece. The obverse features a right-facing bust of Liberty with flowing hair, inscribed "LIBERTY PARENT OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY" around the border and dated 1792. The word "BIRCH" appears on the truncation of the neck, identifying the engraver of the dies. The reverse displays a wreath enclosing "ONE CENT" with "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" around the border and the fraction "1/100" below. Unlike the J-4 and J-5 varieties that bear the lettered edge motto "TO BE ESTEEMED * BE USEFUL *," the J-3 has a completely plain edge. The identity of "Birch" has never been positively determined — candidates include Robert Birch, who appears in Chief Coiner Henry Voigt's 1793 expense records. Only about 14 Birch cents survive across all four die varieties, with only two specimens of the J-3 plain edge variety known. One resides in the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection; the other was in the Kendall Foundation Collection.

Rarity Notes

R.8. Only 2 examples exist.

Cross References

Pollock-4