1837 Large Cent. great looking, but.....

This is a nice looking large cent, but there are things about it that concern me. Feedback appreciated.

 

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The bag mark on the cheek? Did I win?! I don't really see much wrong with it. Maybe some light corrosion on the reverse, but it looks pretty normal for a 170 year old coin.

 

There is no corrosion. Oh, how I wish that the bagmark was the only thing wrong with this coin. I would have made another killer deal..lol.

I knew one of the coins problems when I made the purchase and I was ok with it, but I fear it may be worse than I thought.

 

And what is that problem?

 

Thanks for your comments. I am waiting on a few more unbiased opinions. It's twofold.

One of the problems is a problem that the coin was advertised as having.

Then there is another "fear" I have about this coin that would be worse than the advertised problem if true. I could be wrong though.

Here is another pic of the obverse.

 

The rim is squished at 2K. :kewl:

Is that a rim cud to the right of 6K?

RIbbit

 

johnny,

Forgive me, I am not very good on a lot of the Large Cents but it just has the appearance of a fake!


Frank

 

and that's what I was worried about. The seller said the coin had been recolored, but the surface makes me wonder if it is fake.

The weight is close. It has the proper sound when lightly dropped on a table. But it kind of has that "too good to be true" look to it. It may be from the fact it's been recolored, but I'm not sure.

The rim stuff doesn't bother me, as I see that all the time on slabbed large cents. It's more of the look of the surface.

 

I think so. There is all kinds of funky stuff going on with the rim.

 

I'd have to disagree! I see nothing that says fake but recoloring is highly likely.

Ribbit

 

I was able to zoom in and capture the texture that is suspicious. The funny thing is it is only on part of the coin, not all of it. As you can see, the bottom has somewhat of a weird orange peel texture near the rim. The top portion looks normal.

I'm kind of torn here.

 

The first thing I thought about when I saw this coin is the surface. Clearly, these are not original surfaces. At best, the coin has been cleaned and is retoning.

Remember that these 1836-1839 1c had a variety of Liberty visage. These were transitional years from the Matron to the Braided Hair. This bust matches neither; it's in the evolutionary stage from one to the other. That's why it looks odd to many people.

I see nothing to question the coin's authenticity. There are many signs of worn dies, and you don't normally see that on a fake. Check out the die flow lines at 8k obverse.

I think it's genuine.

 

To me, the top image looks like evidence of a worn die. Those appear to be die flow lines. IMO that points to a genuine coin, but doesn't prove it.

AU details - manipulated surfaces + hits = EAC 30

 

Here is one more pic of the reverse that illustrates the surfaces. One more comment. The edges of the coin are "pink". If it was cleaned, it was dipped until it turned pink, and then someone just colored the obverse and reverse surfaces to make it look natural; or so it would appear. I'm pretty sure that is not natural toning.

I paid VF money for it, so if it's real; I didn't do to bad. However, I'm still a bit suspicious. I've been on a roll with lots of good buys lately, but this one may have caught me in the butt a bit and brought me back to reality.:desk:

I REALLY appreciate all of your feedback!!

Where is GD? He's usually the first one to tell me if anything is wrong with my coin....LOL

 

Attribution-wise, the best I could come up with is N-10 (r.1). I'm not certain, as the 23rd leaf (under "C" in AMERICA) almost touches the "C" on this coin. However, the plate coin in Newcomb doesn't appear to get that close (but it's not a good photo).

Any other shots at attribution ?

If I'm right, CQR 19 gives an estimate of $80 for 1837 N-10 in EAC 30.

 

MUCH better picture of the reverse. With the better photo, I'm more confident in N-10 attribution, and more confident the coin is genuine.

 

He nailed it! Compare yours to this one:

http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=390&Lot_No=20081

Notice your recut C in CENT and gouge in the T plus read what is said about it being a late die state with EXCESSIVE flow lies.

Ribbit

 

Johnny, I agree I think it was dipped as it has a pink and recolored look. The hits seem weird on such a nice coin. I think you could get a decent price on eBay either way, so I bet you won't get hurt too bad. I am not a large cent expert by any means so just my novice opinion

 

BTW - the rim isn't squished, that occurred with these sometimes:

http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=360&Lot_No=3683

So you are still on a streak! :thumb:

Ribbit

 

Well thanks guys. I'd never been more happy to be wrong!!! :mouth::mouth::mouth: Your attribution seems correct. I'm far from an expert on large cents. How often are these types of coins counterfeited anyways?? I just knew I needed one for my type set. It is a very attractive coin, so I will probably be keeping it!