Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 117 19-20 May 2021
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1881 Proof Pattern Copper Five Cent. . Dies by Charles Barber. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, head of Liberty left, wearing coronet inscribed LIBERTY and decorated with wheat sheaves, cotton buds, and ivy leaves; 1881 below / V within wreath of corn, cotton, and wheat sheaves. Edge: plain. Judd 1672; Pollock 1873. In NGC encapsulation 5938163-010, graded PF 64 BN.
From the Dr. Jay M. Galst Collection.
In 1881, mint superintendent A. Louden Snowden began lobbying for a redesign of the Federal coinage. To his mind, America's coins were a disorganized hodgepodge. The cent type had been in circulation from 1859 and the three and five cent types from 1865, each with a different design. He sought uniformity of design in the base metal coinage. To this end, he had engraver Charles Barber create a series of patterns. Though the cent would not change until the centennial of Lincoln's birth in 1909, and the three cent piece simply eliminated, a variation of Barber's five cent design would, with some modifications, ultimately be adopted for circulation in 1883.
From the Dr. Jay M. Galst Collection.
In 1881, mint superintendent A. Louden Snowden began lobbying for a redesign of the Federal coinage. To his mind, America's coins were a disorganized hodgepodge. The cent type had been in circulation from 1859 and the three and five cent types from 1865, each with a different design. He sought uniformity of design in the base metal coinage. To this end, he had engraver Charles Barber create a series of patterns. Though the cent would not change until the centennial of Lincoln's birth in 1909, and the three cent piece simply eliminated, a variation of Barber's five cent design would, with some modifications, ultimately be adopted for circulation in 1883.