1858 One Cent Pattern Sets - a question or two
DMWJR
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In collecting small cents, if you do it long enough, you can find yourself studying the small cent patterns from 1849 on, and even the attempted small cent tokens of Feuchtwanger dated 1837, and a few other attempts outside the mint. (As an aside I think Feuchtwanger should have hired a better lobbiest and our official small cents could have started earlier than 1857, exactly 20 years later)
1858 is is the most prolific year (actually most likely two year period) of pattern small cents, with a "12-piece pattern set" being produced. I put it in quotes as it included the 1858 Small Letters in the set which was already in production, and I wouldn't consider it a pattern. Also various singles were continued to be produced to meet collector demands.
It is no secret that Snowden continued to produce them after 1858 as trade bait for the collection he was building, but were the very early set put in a special package, box or holder? If so, does anyone know if one of these set, originally issued as a complete set, still intact? Are the days of keeping originally issued sets together, over?
Personally, I'm fascinated will all the different tinkering with the design that went on from 1857 - 1864 during times of regular production as it seems like there were significant changes in design and composition during that period.
Comments
Any photos of these pattern cents?
I hope boiler doesn't mind if I borrow his photo from his registry set, but it is awesome!
Three obverse designs, and four reverse designs ... and actually many variants which I find strangely odd as well since so few were produced.
http://uspatterns.com/18onecen12pi.html
12 piece set =
3 obverses (Flying Eagle, Small Flying eagle, Indian)
x
4 reverses (4 types of wreath)
General pattern page, 1857-1864, indicates rarity of R-4 to unique for different Judd varieties.
http://uspatterns.com/pat18.html
.The Fly-In Book 1858
Wow....that's a great set
@EagleEye ...Thanks for that link... Cheers, RickO
Thanks Rick and Ricko, lol
Back to my questions,
were the very early set put in a special package, box or holder?
does anyone know if one of these set, originally issued as a complete set, still intact?
I have never seen or heard of any special packaging for these original sets. I have been working on reassembling the Eliasberg set for almost 20 years. I have 8 of the 12 and know where 2 others are (in strong hands unfortunately) The last two J-202 and J-204 will be very difficult to plate match if they haven't retained their pedigrees so I may have taken the set as far as it will go? It has been a fun journey so far.
Im not a pattern guy, but I do own two. I put them in with a set of UNC Indians I built just for fun. I have one of the flying eagle 58's and 1 of the indian 58 with ornamental shield.
jdimmick- That is exactly how I got started on the set. I attended the Eliasberg sale where I bought the J-191 Flying Eagle with the reverse similar to the 1859 Indian cent reverse and the J-213 Indian cent with the Flying Eagle reverse. They made a good addition to my Flying Eagle and Indian cent collection. In hind sight I wish I had the good sense to buy the complete set at the auction but the thought hadn't occurred to me at the time.
@boiler78 Great job picking up the two from the sale that you did. I'm going to make a composite photo of my 12 piece set too. I think that is super cool. I recently took them to a show for photographing and got home only to find that they truviewed only 10 of the 11 ... I know Phil will fix it
I've not seen any mention of a holder or "casket" for these in Mint documents.
RE: "As an aside I think Feuchtwanger should have hired a better lobbiest and our official small cents could have started earlier than 1857, exactly 20 years later."
Dr. F's proposal had three major flaws: 1) he claimed ownership/patent rights to a commonplace alloy and wanted royalties; 2) the alloy had three components when a two-element alloy would work just as well; and 3) the US did not have a stable, developed source of nickel in the 1830/40s.
Roger, thanks for the info. I figured if anyone had run across reference to holders or a casket for the set, it would be you.
On Dr. F, au contraire, you are too logical. none of those flaws would prevent a good lobbyist from getting this passed
Of course you are right on all points, but maybe it did start opening the door even though he didn't get any credit for it 20 years later when the basic design and size (on a two comp planchet) actually replaced large cents in the form of the flying eagle. It's not that they didn't try the comp either. One of the experimental patterns of 1851 was German silver. And Dr. F got to sit on the sidelines and watch the whole thing unfold...his idea becoming reality, but with enough minor differences he had no claim to it.
I would guess one of the other issues with the 1837 token was that it is really too light to feel substantial. It almost feels like play money. They just don't feel like real coins.