That 1814 looks very nice... I still have to figure out what I am looking at and for when going to shops.. most here dont carry many or they are extra common or really rough looking...
Yep - with the local dealer they have some nice low grade coins at time, but most are common varieties. One of the reasons I use online dealers like Tom Deck and Shawn Yancey/. Also on Tom's home page you can see his collection. I use it in attributing coins at time.
First thing is to make sure we're talking about the same thing. There is only one Large Cent variety. There are several varieties of Half Cents in 1804 and are usually referenced by Cohen Variety. In Large Cents, the Large Fraction/Large date nomenclature is usually reserved for 1803. This is a good reference for Half cents though you have to close out the site closed screen occasionally. It shows 13 varieties of Half Cents. The interesting one is the Cohen 2 which has a CUD from 12 to 1 and is VERY RARE. Let me know or post some pictures. http://www.coinfacts.com/half_cents/1804_half_cents/1804_half_cent_c13.htm This is a good site for Early Date Large Cents. It is the Holmes Collection. http://www.icollector.com/1804-S-266a-R4-F15_i8599551 This and the two following lots show the three stages of S-266. The Crack (a line) usually occurs first and then the CUD (die fills to the crack). Breen divides State a into a perfect die without a break (I)and one where a die break over RTY exists (II)(R4 combined), but before it becomes a solid CUD (III) (R5). Then the reverse forms a CUD over MERIC and is the most common die state (IV)(R2).
I bookmark good sites and recommend other collectors do likewise. This is a favorite of mine for 1794's. http://www.1794largecents.com/1794/collection.htm Al is currently selling his date set at Long Beach/Heritage and Husek has thrown in an Extremely Rare (R6) S-39 for the auction. This is for the Big Money guys though. http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1159&lotNo=3004
I am not sure I understand all the "N" numbers on later cents. Is there a reference online that can offer some insight into these as some seem to have several "N" numbers assigned.
Beginning with 1816, the Large Cents are best known by Newcomb numbers after Newcomb and Crosby's "United States Copper Cents 1816-1857" first printed in 1944. These are two of the links I use, but they don't offer the information of the published books by Noyes, Wright or Newcomb. http://images.goldbergauctions.com/php/chap_auc.php?site=1&lang=1&sale=59&chapter=1&page=1 http://images.goldbergauctions.com/php/chap_auc.php?site=1&lang=1&sale=62&chapter=1&page=1