Was/is common, still, for the top half of the number 8 to be written/printed/manufactured smaller than the bottom half. It's a deliberate, altered (counterfeit if you will) 8...no accident.
Mountain Man, thank you for the good advice. I'll take care to handle these coins in a way that will do no harm. I respect that they're already older than any of us here yet they will also go on to outlast us all and will be handled by unknown future generations. That's a rare thing to find these days. Thanks also for the photo of the original 1858 for comparison. Seeing that, it's obvious that the fake number 3 could easily have been formed from that second eight. I did get a chance to look through a slightly better magnifier today and at that higher magnification you can see more evidence that points to modification I think. I took a photo which is not perfect quality but I'm attaching here. I guess in this coin I just have an old tampered-with oddity... Still really interesting. I'd sure love to know it's full story. Thanks again to all! -John
So many times someone comes on here telling us their father or grandfather died and left them a collection and they wonder about a particular coin, and that coin turns out to be a very rare and valuable coin, of course. So forgive me for being skeptical. In 1853, patterns were made for what would become the flying eagle cent. They were used to decide on the metal composition and they were about the size of a dime. However, if you actually had one of those it shouldn't show that much wear, because they were never put into circulation. So either your grandmother somehow came across a fake or you are trying to scam us.
The more pics I see, the more it looks like it was stamped with something heavy which left an indentation in the area.
The original poster already got his info. The FEC had the final 8 retooled and manipulated to resemble a 3. He even took one last picture, posted in the post directly before your post, showing in a very close up, the tool marks on the final 3. Blow up his image and you'll clearly see the retooling.
There were no flying eagle cent patterns in 1853. The first FE cent patterns were made in 1854 and were midway in diameter between that of the half cent and the large cent. Such patterns were also made in 1855, same size. Finally the coppernickel patterns made in 1856.
Hey that’s cool man 1853 flying eagle cent I want one! I just found a counterfeit or altered 1856 Indian head cent I think? I was searching my 2019 thought to be all unc cent rolls I got from the bank in 2019 to try and find the 2019 westpoint penny and I found what looks like a 1856 Indian head cent. If some could tell me where I can get a better copy of this counterfeit fantasy coin it would be appreciated. I would also like a reference as to what this thing is coin or otherwise something to staple it to and put it in a folder as a background for it. I haven’t found anything about it online. I’ve called around but no replies yet it must be Sunday.
My jack broke and I got to tend to my plants I got Angola red I got to protect it from stuff falling in my room. I need a new coin cam or just use one at pawn shop tommarrow after school
Your coin is crap. I'm more interested in what the hell this means. I have no idea where to start, but would punctuation help?