how many 1793 AMERI Chain cent exist ?

SmallTownCoins

There are 3 version's of 1793 Chain's...
(1)America, (2) America with period, and (3)Ameri......
Ameri was supposedly the first of the strike's....

Anyone have info as to surviving piece's in all grade's ?
(specificly grading F-12).....

any info greatly appreciated....

michael

1793 AMERI Chain cent

was supposedly the first of the strike's....

Anyone have info as to surviving Ameri in F-12?

approx 20

michael

in all grades??

approx. 225

SmallTownCoins

Michael, where did you get that info.... Very interesting.... Thanks

BillJones

12 Chain Ameri's in Fine-12.

I'm not so sure about that. I'd say for sure that there are more than that if you count the pieces that NET GRADE to Fine-12.

Overall it would not surprise me if there were something like 300 to 350 surviving Ameri's in all grades (including some real dogs). The first Chain cent I owned was one in AG-3 that had been "enhanced" a bit and perhaps through a fire. The population was boosted by the fact that the Chain cents were the first of their kind, which encouraged more people to save them. Sometimes, dates like 1799 and 1804 end up being scarcer because of low mintages and people had grown used to the coins and just used them.

There are new Chain Ameri's that show up from time to time, some of them quite nice.

About 10 years ago a dealer from Maine let me borrow one he had purchased for a few weeks. The coin had full EF-AU sharpness, but it had some scratches. No one knew this piece existed among the major collectors.

The story was a barber in Maine purchased 50 large cents for $50. Among them was this Chain cent. This Maine dealer saw the coin and offered the buyer a good price for it. He kept raising his offer until it got up to a new car. The buyer refused, and in the mean time he carried the coin around with him and put some scratches on it. Finally he relented and sold the piece.

I offered the dealer $10 grand for the coin, but he refused. Today it would be worth a lot more. I displayed it an an EAC convention, and the coin drew a lot of interest.

michael

just from my experiences in talking to others and other information i have on them in my coin ly-berry