A rare 1792 Silver Center Penny sold for $1,150,000 by Heritage Auction on 19 April 2012. The auction won by Kevin Lipton of Beverly Hills, California, who bought the penny on behalf of a group of unnamed investors for $1 million and must also pay the auction house's 15 percent commission. Only 14 of copper and silver 1792 experimental penny exist and this is the third best example (Morris Specimen) of the coin. One of the coin sold at auction in 1974 and reached a price of $105,000. The Silver Center cent was the first coin produced within the physical Philadelphia Mint building shortly after its completion near the end of 1792. The coin was auctioned off at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Chicago.
On the obverse show Liberty faces right with hair flowing behind. The obverse periphery reads LIBERTY PARENT OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY, with 1792 just below the bust. The reverse has a wreath tied with a ribbon at the bottom; ONE CENT is within. Around the rim is UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with the fraction 1/100 below. Struck in copper with a silver plug in the center.
The coin is made from copper and incases a small plug of silver. The silver was added to make the penny heavier. For a comparison, Canada King of Pennies or a 1936 dot cent coin sold in an auction for USD$402,500 at a New York auction in January 2010.
Source: Heritage Auction.
Source: Heritage Auction.
