I'm trying to get my inventory in order. For many of my large cents, if the Newcomb Number wasn't on the slab, I just socked the coins away to ID them later. Well, it's later. And IDing an 1838 large cent is a REAL pain. There are 15 varieties that look VERY much the same. I've got John Wright's book and Noyes' Book. My result so far is 1 hour's work and no answer. The images are large so you "may" be able to see some of the finer details. The coin is graded NGC MS-62-BN.
Part of my problem is understanding and identifying some of the variety markers. Here are some I don't have a handle on: -- what does "recutting" look like? -- what do "broken" letters look like? -- what does "crumbling" look like? I think it's a matter of size that causing me grief. Those descriptors don't jump out and slap me upside the head. If that's the case I do have a solution if I know what I'm looking for. I have a stereoscopic microscope with ample magnification.
Recutti Recutting looks like tooling around a device. It is the mint touching up a date or a star, the jacket on early memorial lincolns. By redefining the image on the die face. Here is a recut 2nd star. Broken letters abruptly go from high relief to low relief. Not sure what crumbling means.
GOOD GRIEF!!! I've got an 1839 to ID also. Looks to be as tough as the 1838. THEN I went on into the 1840's. 1848 makes the 1838 and 1839 look like a piece of cake.
You are a true Numismatist @kanga to go that deep into the character and heritage of your collection. I have learned from your posts, thanks for sharing.
"Crumbling" mostly happens at the rim and dentils but there are exceptions. With crumbling rims what you're looking for is evidence that the dentils and possibly to some extent the obverse rim of the edge, on the die are failing or have failed. This shows up as not just weak dentils but also the dentils look like they are falling apart. Think of the look of concrete that is spalling and breaking down. The severity can range from mild to extreme. Note that you can have weak dentils but not crumbling rims.
Thanks. I'm now working on a system that should(?) make it easier for me to ID the variety of items with a large number of options. I'll set it up and try it on my 1839 large cent and see how well it works. Stay tuned
