| Description: |
German silver. Plain edge. One of the more interesting patterns of this era, the present
piece combines the obverse from a regular quarter eagle of the year, with a hastily
contrived reverse, a wreath enclosing the words ONE/CENT, but too widely spaced to be
artistic. Although this and all others are designated as Proofs, the dies were not
polished, and a better designation would be Mint State. The intent was to quickly create a
die pair to show what a small diameter cent would look like, struck in German silver. At
the time German silver was all the rage, and had been popular in many circles since the
1830s, at which earlier time Dr. Lewis Feuchtwanger was its main proponent. While the
alloy is called German silver today, in the 1830s Feuchtwanger called it American silver
and, alternatively, Feuchtwanger's composition. |
