WALTER BREEN’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EARLY UNITED STATES CENTS, 1793–1814

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The One Hundred Greatest Items Of United States Numismatic Literature Rank: Number 51

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Early coppers are the foundation of American numismatic research, and this volume proves that they maintain a sizable lead on lesser brethren. While certain American series still lack comprehensive die variety guides, Breen et al have raised the bar even further. No longer is it sufficient to simply describe all the dies and marriages. Here, the three 3 B’s are like atomic physicists, exploring successively smaller bits. Individual die progressions are throughly explicated, yearly mintage figures are broken down into single deliveries, and copious condition consensus (thousands of citations coordinated by Del Bland) include even die state information. Surrounding the date-by-date analysis are any number of additional features, most notably thirty-four die marriage plates, plus a contribution from Craig Sholley on technology of the early Mint. To be sure, Sheldon remains the core, but that makes this work no less indispensable.

1^st Edition

BREEN, Walter H. WALTER BREEN’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EARLY UNITED STATES CENTS, 1793–1814.
Wolfeboro, NH: 1983
857pp
Quarto
Hardbound: Pictorial boards

1^st Edition, Limited

BREEN, Walter H. WALTER BREEN’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EARLY UNITED STATES CENTS, 1793–1814.
Wolfeboro, NH: 1983
857pp
Quarto
Hardbound: Blue Cloth

Limited to 500 copies.

1^st Edition, Deluxe

BREEN, Walter H. WALTER BREEN’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EARLY UNITED STATES CENTS, 1793–1814.
Wolfeboro, NH: 1983
857pp
Quarto
Hardbound: Full blue morocco-grained processed leather

Limited to ~80 copies.