I was photographing some large cents for sale last night and noticed that one of the 1852 Large cent, probably xf +/- , had some damage on the reverse denomination that produced a vulgar slang word. The damaged letter shows possible signs of tooling, but if so, it was done a very long time ago. However other signs such as the rough surface of the broken lower serif appears natural as does the minor effect on the central serif. I have seen another example a long time ago where much tooling was used to produce a strong effect, this is sort of a hybrid appearance of the 2 letters, which is why I didn't notice it right away. I have searched the web , and the few instances of mention say they were man made of several dates, but just wanted to see if any die breaks might have produced a similar effect. Please I hope I haven't offended anyone. I certainly wont be selling it. Thanks Jim
I've seen photos of that particular damage on large cents, and it has been refered to as intentional, and yes, done long ago. If it happens to be some freakish variety or error specifically for 1852, it does not appear in the Grellman variety guide.
Thanks! glad to hear from someone who knows the varieties. The one I saw didn't really look as unfinished as this one, but if there is not a known rev like that , I will count it as manmade damage. Jim
They were done contemporaneously, much like the so called "Potty Dollars" that were made of SL dollars and Trade Dollars in the late 19th century. Isn't it amazing how some slang terms like that have been around for quite awhile?
I actually looked up the term on Wiki, and it said the first mention of it was in the 1200s. SO I guess it was is wide use in the 1800s. I haven't ever seen a Lincoln cent so altered, but I am sure someone has. Jim
Yes, I have seen these and read about them. Apparently it was indeed man-made, and done way back then. Apparently a sick sense of humor is nothing new.
Yeah , ive seen what your talking about on a couple large cents i have in my collection and ones that go across ebay which at times go for more because of the slang the Braided hair cents 1839-57 years seem to have it done more than earlier years that i've noticed which was closer to the civil war years (naturally) i always like to think these were done by civil war troops - waiting & passing the time Snowman
Jim: It is not a variety. I have seen several of them, plus a few on eBay. Just idle hands carving, I guess that they had nothing to do while watching the steers graze.
One can imagine them sitting around in some camp somewhere, when some slothy fellow comes up with his freshly carved sensation to show off. They all snicker hysterically at the notion of such a wondrous creation. Those Victorian times, they were not so prude after all.:secret:
Sometime the alteration is very expertly done and actually looks like it was made that way but usually they are much more crudely done, sometimes little more than scratching out the center sections of the letters. I have never seen a Lincoln altered that way, but I have seen a Classic head half cent, flying eagle cent and even an indian head cent. I have also seen several examples of flying eagle cents where the eagle has been reengraved into a set of winged male genitalia.
