Counterpart to the Plain Edge variety, the Lettered Edge Jefferson Head cent is even rarer with just five specimens known. Interestingly for such an elusive variety, the five known examples represent two different die marriages and five different subvarieties which, in essence, makes each piece unique. The five specimens, by variety and subvariety, are as follows:

Sheldon NC-1, Breen-10a: Obverse and reverse dies as described above; small, thick planchet; Edge of 1793 (ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR followed by a single leaf pointing down).

-PCGS Fine-15. Ex Anthony Terranova, discovered June 1974 in a lot of coins purchased by Harmer Rooke Numismatists, Ltd. Joseph H. Rose; Harmer Rooke's sale of September 1976, lot 311; William R.T. Smith; our (Bowers and Merena's) Rare Coin Review #32, 1979; William R.T. Smith, February 8, 1980; Dan Holmes; Ira & Larry Goldberg's sale of the Dan Holmes Collection, Part I, September 2009, lot 129. Sharpness of VF-25, net Fine-12 in the Bland census, Noyes says VG10 (VF30).

Sheldon NC-1, Breen-10b: Obverse and reverse dies as described above; large, thin planchet; Edge of 1794 (ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR followed by a single leaf pointing up).

-PCGS VF-30. Ex Harold P. Newlin; John W. Haseltine's sale of the Harold P. Newlin Collection, April 1883, lot 286; Dr. Edward Maris; Harlan P. Smith's sale of the Dr. Edward Maris Collection, lot 271; Waldo C. Newcomer; B. Max Mehl; James G. Macallister, 1935; Henry C. Hines; Lillian Scheer (Hines' housekeeper), 1948; Homer K. Downing; New Netherlands Coin Co.'s 1952 ANA Sale, lot 1713; Dr. William H. Sheldon, April 19, 1972; R.E. "Ted" Naftzger, Jr., February 23, 1992; Eric Streiner; Jay Parrino, August 17, 1995; Anthony Terranova; ESM Collection. EAC grade of VF-20 in the Bland census, F15(VF25) Average in the Noyes census. The present example, and the plate coin for the variety in both the Breen large cent encyclopedia and the 2007 edition of the Noyes large cent reference.

Sheldon NC-1, Breen-10b: Obverse and reverse dies as described as above; large, thin planchet; Edge of 1793 (ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR followed by a single leaf pointing down).

-Fair-2. Ex Clayton L. Wallace; our (Stack's) sale of December 1963, lot 458; Bradbury K. Thurlow; Mayflower Coin Auctions' sale of December 1967, lot 126; R.E. "Ted" Naftzger, Jr., July 1971; Denis W. Loring, May 1974; Dr. Robert J. Shalowitz; John W. Adams; Kagin's Beverly-Hilton Sale of January 1975, lot 477; John W. Adams; Robinson S. Brown, Jr. Superior's sale of the Robinson S. Brown, Jr. Collection of Large Cents, September 1986, lot 106; Robinson S. Brown, Jr. Superior's sale of the Robinson S. Brown, Jr. Collection of Large Cents, January 1996, 113; Dan Holmes; Ira & Larry Goldberg's sale of the Dan Holmes Collection, Part I, September 2009, lot 130. Graded Fair-2 by both Bland and Noyes.

Sheldon NC-4 (Sheldon-80a), Breen-11a: Obverse die as described above, reverse of Sheldon-80; thin planchet; lettered edge (ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR followed by a single leaf that apparently points up).

-Good-5. Ex Curtis R. Whitson, discovered unattributed, August 1991; Superior's Clark E. Adams and Duncan MacMillan Collections sale, October 1992, lot 75; Robinson S. Brown, Jr. Superior's sale of the Robinson S. Brown, Jr. Collection of Large Cents, January 1996, lot 114; Dan Holmes; Ira & Larry Goldberg's sale of the Dan Holmes Collection, Part I, September 2009, lot 133. Sharpness grade of Fine-12, net grade of Good-5 in the Bland census, Noyes says AG3(VG7).

Sheldon NC-4 (Sheldon-80a), Breen-11a: Obverse die as described above, reverse of Sheldon-80; thick planchet, apparently overstruck on a 1795 NC-1 cent; edge possibly lettered at one time, now with crude reeding.

-Fair-2. Ex Homer K. Downing; New Netherlands Coin Co.'s 1952 ANA Sale, lot 1716; Harold Bareford, September 12, 1985; Herman Halpern; Denis W. Loring, February 1989; Dan Holmes; Ira & Larry Goldberg's sale of the Dan Holmes Collection, Part I, September 2009, lot 132. Graded AG-3 for sharpness, "X" due to a hole in the Bland census, Noyes says Fr2(G6).

As the foregoing census listing makes clear, the ESM specimen previously sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries is the finest known example of the Jefferson Head, Lettered Edge Guide Book variety, graded at VF-30.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the August 2020 Showcase Auction, where it realized $408,000.