Hey guys I got some grief about a month or so ago questioning the amount someone paid for a slug LC. Everyone said that if there was enough detail left it could have been a good deal. So let see what you can do with this one. I got this along with two other LC's for 8 dollars.
I won't attempt it. Too much corrosion - this is one for Marshall or someone or one of the other real experts. But for $3 a coin hard to go wrong since you can handle them without worry.
this is the austion for the coins http://www.ebay.com/itm/130686959176?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
While having lot's of meat left on this coin, many of the identifiers I use are gone. We know it's a draped bust variety minted from 1796 through 1807. I usually break it down further by the lettering style, but the L, E and R of LIBERTY are all too corroded. My backup on the reverse is small or large fraction, but again, it's too corroded there to acertain. It is much easier to tell you what it's not, but there are too many varieties left for me to determine what it is. I suspect it is toward the later range of varieties due to the longer stems, but I see nothing which would indicate a positive point of attribution rather than trying to eliminate all others. I think it's type 2 hair (indicating 1798 or later), but I'm not evern certain about that. Sorry.
OK for starters I do see the hair curl that tells me it is type 2 hair so it is 1798 or later. Next one of my favorite things to look at it is the position of the gap between the ends of the wreath compared to the ES above In the case of this one it seems to be centered below the edge of the serif of the E. Another thing that is clear is the point of leaf below the D in UNITED being below the right side of the D. Another "good" feature is the point of the leaf between the F and A which is very close to the F. So I just started at the 1798's and flipped through the book checking each variety that had the gap below the serif of the E. When I hit one I would look at the position of the leaf and the D and most of them had the leaf below the center or left of center. On those that had it below the right side I would then look at the leaf between the F and A. and they would be centered between them or closer to the A. The only ones that matched all three positions are S-250 and S-252 which share the same reverse. So we go to the obverse which is a real problem. I went with S-252 because it has LIBERTY down closer to the head than 250 and it seems very close on your coin. BUT, today looking it over again I notice that the T is too far to the left compared to the junction of the hair and forehead to be 252, but it does match 250. So I would say my first estimate was off and this coin is S-250. (As a weasel, you will note that in my first post is said S-252 was a good possibility, not that it WAS S-252. )