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Auction: 317 - The Collector's Series
Lot: 637

1791 Washington Small Eagle Cent. Breen-1218. PCGS MS63BN. Seeking to win a contract from the young U.S. government to produce copper coinage, the firm of W. and Alexander Walker of Birmingham, England commissioned John Gregory Hancock to design a Cent. His efforts resulted in what we now call large and small eagle Washington Cents. George Washington rejected the idea of having his portrait on a coin and loathed the notion of contract minting. A cask of these coins, though, had been shipped to the firm's associate in Philadelphia and it is believed 4,000 pieces entered circulation, of which 1,500 were small eagles.

Sold for
$2,050