Struck over a 1794 Half Dollar
Copper Die Trial (Overton 101)

Rarity: Unique

Weight: 88.5 grains

Images courtesy of Superior Galleries

Significant examples:
NGC VF-20.  Ex - Superior Galleries "Pre-Long Beach Sale", September 14-16, 2003, Lot 634, illustrated, where it was described as follows: "Slightly glossy chocolate and medium brown with some delicate overtones of sea-green and bluish steel. The faint overtones appear to have resulted from a chemical wash to remove some minor dirt and expose more of the half dollar undertype. The notable marks are a dull, light scratch from the hair just left of the neck down to the top of the 7, a tiny rim nick at OF, a tiny pinprick in the field off the bust tip, and a faint hairline scratch on the neck. The planchet is decent, smooth except for a small patch of microscopic roughness in the field over the bust tip. Overall a rather generic half cent except for the undertype, which is of a 1794 half dollar, the Overton-101 die variety. The 1794 half dollar must have been a die trial in copper that was later cut down into a half cent planchet (similar to what was done to many Talbot Allum & Lee cents and spoiled large cent planchets) and struck with the 1795 C-6 half cent dies. Ample undertype remains on both sides, more than enough to easily identify the 1794 Overton-101 die variety for the half dollar strike. The entire 1794 date is visible left of the fraction, along with the first two stars, lower hair curls, and bottom edge of the bust. On the obverse of the half cent strike you can see strong portions of the half dollar wreath in the field behind the portrait, the top two leaves of the wreath under the I in LIBERTY, and the A in STATES in the dentils left of the top of the cap. Additional half dollar undertype can be made out on both sides. A remarkable overstrike that clearly attests to the production of 1794 half dollar die trials in copper and the subsequent use of at least one of those die trial planchets cut down to serve as a half cent planchet. Weight 88.5 grains. EAC grade net F15+, close to VF20. The NGC label identifies the undertype 1794 Overton-101 half dollar die trial."

Sources and/or recommended reading:
"American Half Cents - The 'Little Half Sisters' (Second Edition)" by Roger S. Cohen, Jr.

"Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia Of U.S. And Colonial Coins" by Walter Breen

"Half cent variety discovered", NUMISMATIC NEWS, September 2, 2003, pages 1 and 24

Relevant collector organizations:
Early American Coppers Club