1804 (1860s) Draped Bust Cent. Private "Restrike." Breen-1761. Genuine--Damage (PCGS).

1804 (1860s) Draped Bust Cent. Private "Restrike." Breen-1761. Genuine--Damage (PCGS).，Iridescent golden undertones backlight dominant rose-brown patina, the general appearance of this piece quite pleasing relative to the assigned grade. Satiny in texture and otherwise free of significant post-production blemishes, tooling to the die crack in the left obverse field seems to explain the PCGS qualifier. <strong>Unc Details</strong>.<p>This intriguing issue was created by pairing two obsolete and damaged dies sold by the Mint as scrap metal; interestingly, neither of the dies had originally been used to strike regular issue 1804 Draped Bust cents. The obverse of this privately produced and issued "restrike" is actually the obverse that the Mint originally used to strike 1803-dated Draped Bust cents of the Sheldon-261 variety, now badly rusted with the date crudely altered from 1803 to 1804 by parties outside the Mint. The digit 1 is now recut along its right upright, the 8 is also recut and of a different style, and the new 0 is narrower in shape with a thinner top and base. A loupe reveals remnants of the original digit 3 both at the base of the 4 and at the upper right corner of that digit. The reverse of this issue is the badly rusted, reground and retooled die that the Mint originally used to strike 1820 Matron Head cents of the Newcomb-12 variety. As part of their reworking of this die someone added new saw tooth denticles around the border over the original denticles, which were more round in shape. A generous amount of mystery surrounds the 1804 "Restrike." Years ago it was popular to call this and certain other coins "Mickley Restrikes," but in extensive reading about Joseph J. Mickley and his activities, Q. David Bowers has found that myths are often more prevalent than truth. For example, Walter Breen writes that in 1827 Mickley visited the Philadelphia Mint and obtained four 1827 Proof quarter dollars at face value. However, no substantiation for this has ever been found. "Mickley Restrike" has been assigned to the 1811 half cent and also the present 1804 cent, but although Mickley had many discarded Mint dies, not a shred of evidence has pointed to Mickley ever owning a coining press and striking coins or, for that matter, commissioning them to have been struck. Tracking down the 1804 "Restrike" would be a good project for anyone writing a feature article for <I>Penny Wise</I>. These coins were known by 1860. One account mentions that a Mr. Miller may have made them, but further information has not been learned. In any event, the so-called 1804 "Restrike" has always been a "fun" item to add to a collection of copper cents, along with the somewhat related 1823 Restrike.，，