1793 Wreath Cent, Vine and Bars Edge, S-8, R3-, PCGS XF40 - 1793 Wreath 1C, Vine and Bars Edge PCGS XF40. This eye-appealing 1793 Large cent is one of the Vine and Bars Edge varieties. The coin is a lovely light chocolate brown that is slightly darker on the lower left obverse and most of the reverse. The colors attest to the coins originality. Except for a very small area of micro-porosity at the date, the surfaces are clean, hard, and glossy with no abrasion marks worthy of individual description. Most of Libertys hair and the wreath details are strong. The raised beads on the borders are distinct except for the portion above CA in AMERICA. A long die crack is present across the reverse, which is diagnostic for the variety.

The S-8 variety is identified by the horizontal stem of the sprig of three leaves, slightly curved, that parallels the top of the numerals of the date. On all other Wreath cents, the stem points downward. In addition the 7 is taller than the other numbers. There is a faint die crack from the point of the bust to the edge and two short ones from the top left of the Y in LIBERTY and the top right of the R to the border. The 9 and 3 are poorly formed when combined with this reverse. On the reverse, the upper outside trefoil on the left side is under the first T in STATES. The bow is heavy and shaped almost like a triangle. The fraction bar is curved and long as it almost touches both ribbons. A long, thin die break is present across the coin from the first T in STATES to the last A in AMERICA.  This die break, which is very delicate, runs through the center dot.

The obverse shows a profile of Liberty looking to the left. Her hair is untied, hence the designation Flowing Hair. LIBERTY is above the portrait and the date is below. Under the truncation and above the date is a sprig of three leaves. The reverse shows a wreath of two olive branches that enclose the denomination written as ONE CENT. The branches are tied at the bottom with a ribbon. Between the ends of the ribbon and the rim is the fraction 1/100. Around the wreath is the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. There are raised beads at the border on both sides of the coin. The edge is decorated with a vine and bars pattern

While it is not clear who designed the Flowing Hair, Wreath cent, evidence suggests that it was either Adam Eckfeldt or Joseph Wright. The Vine and Bars edge was continued from the previous issue, the Chain cent. Cornelius Vermeule points out that Wreath cent presented a more sophisticated view of Liberty. He said, It still reflects French influences, from the design created by Dupr for a medal. The strong profile from brow to neck was a contemporary interpretation of Greco-Roman sculpture in marble or bronze, and the streaming hair was Dupres expression of excitement stirring in the colonies and among intellectual circles in France as the United States came into being. The fraction reminds us that the still relatively limited audience of the federal coinage had to think in terms of decimals and hundredths rather than pounds, shillings, and pence.
Eckfeldt was the second Chief Coiner at the Mint. He worked occasionally for the Mint until mid 1795 when he became a permanent employee. He was a blacksmith and machinist and so he worked on various projects including adjusting the presses and making die stock. The claims that Eckfeldt engraved several dies in 1793 are unsubstantiated by Mint or other records. His duties included forging, heading, and annealing the dies that others engraved. In 1796 he was hired as the assistant to Chief Coiner Henry Voigt. He worked as Voigts assistant until Voigts death in 1814, when he was appointed Chief Coiner by President James Madison. When Engraver Robert Scot died in 1823, Eckfeldt recommended William Kneass to replace him. Eckfeldt is also noted for keeping first strike or master coins that became the basis of the Mint Collection, which is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian.

Joseph Wright was a skilled engraver, painter, and sculptor. He painted several portraits of Benjamin Franklin that were lost at sea when a ship he was on ran aground during his return voyage to America from France. When he returned home, he created a bronze bust of George Washington. Later he moved to Philadelphia where he began working at the Mint in 1792. He was commissioned as a draughtsman and die sinker; although, everyone considered him to be the Chief Engraver. Unfortunately both he and his wife died in September 1793 as a result of the yellow fever epidemic that annually plagued Philadelphia.

This Flowing Hair, Wreath cent is appealing to those assembling a set of all major design types. It also needs to be considered by anyone interested collecting Large cents by date or type. It most certainly appeals to collectors of early copper in general.  In its population report, PCGS shows that 29 Vine and Bars Wreath cents have been certified in XF40 condition; however, only 7 of the S-8 variety have been certified higher than the present coin.