Heritage's Platinum Night at their FUN rare coins auction has produced a remarkable result in the form of the Eliasberg 1793 S-4 Chain Cent. It sold for $1.38m, making it the most expensive United States copper coin sold.
The auction is on track to easily exceed $50m in total sales, with totals for all Heritage auctions over the week expected to exceed $70m.
Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr held the coin as one of his prized possessions. He also gave his name to the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel he owned - one of just five to exist.
 Liberty, plain and simple: the 1793 Eliasberg Cent |
"Mr. Eliasberg was nicknamed, 'the king of coins' because before his death in 1976 he assembled a collection that consisted of at least one example of every coin ever made at the United States Mint, a feat never duplicated," commented Heritage Coins' co-chairman James Halperin.
The 1793 S-4 with Periods Chain cent, in MS65 Brown condition is one of a small number of sensational Chain cents have survived for more than two centuries since they were coined in March 1793, including this example that carries a provenance to 1864.
 The Eliasberg Liberty Cent reverse |
A sensational gem, the Eliasberg specimen has a bold strike with excellent definition of the motifs, including the fine strands of Liberty's hair. The rim is bold and the centring is excellent. Every aspect of the superlative chain cent is remarkable.
The rich olive and mahogany-brown surfaces are highly lustrous and virtually flawless. A small patch of reverse corrosion that was described in the Eliasberg catalogue remains unchanged over the last 15 years, and it is completely stable, unlikely to change in the future.
