1792 Birch cent earns fame

The imagination of the national news media was captured by the sale of a 1792 Birch cent March 26 in Baltimore by Stack’s Bowers Galleries during its auction of the Henry P. Kendall Foundation Collection.

Bringing $1,175,000, this first American cent was graded AU-58 by the Professional Coin Grading Service. It was noted that this coin was purchased from Stack’s June 23, 1975, but that it had not been offered at a public auction since 1959.

The provenance includes the Bushnell, Parmelee, Jenks and Col. Green collections.