1797 PGCS 1c Mint Error VG08 D/S in Collar – Close Overlap

1797 Draped Bust Large Cent — PCGS VG08 — MINT ERROR
Double Struck in Collar — Close Overlap  Rev 78 Stems

A fascinating piece of early American coinage — a 1797 Draped Bust Large Cent graded PCGS VG08, made dramatically more desirable by its PCGS-certified Double Struck in Collar – Close Overlap mint error. Rather than receiving the normal single strike, this coin was struck twice while remaining within the coining collar, with the second strike closely overlapping the first. The result is visible evidence of a mishap at the early U.S. Mint more than 225 years ago. Early large cents already have a passionate collector following, but major, certified striking errors on coins of this age are a completely different level of rarity and interest. The 1797 cent was struck in Philadelphia, designed by Robert Scot, and had an overall mintage of 897,510 pieces.

The history makes this coin even more remarkable. In 1797, the United States was only 21 years old, George Washington had just completed his presidency, and John Adams became the nation's second president. The Philadelphia Mint itself had opened only five years earlier, and coin production was still an intensely hands-on process using individually prepared dies and relatively primitive machinery. The 1797 Large Cent is known today in numerous die varieties, reflecting those early production methods. This particular coin captures that early Mint technology in an extraordinary way: an original 1797 U.S. Large Cent with a dramatic PCGS-recognized double-strike mint error. For the collector of early copper or major U.S. mint errors, this is the type of coin that is extremely difficult to replace once it is gone.

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