I have always been interested in collecting the different die varieties of US large cents. I know there is 302 different sheldon types and 54 NC (non collectible) but what dates do these range to (1793 to what?) and is there a book or website where I can see the different varieties? Any help on this matter is wanted. Thanks
i'm far from knowledgeable on large cents, but I do know the Redbook has a lot of listings for LC varieties. here is an interesting site with many images of Sheldon varieties.
Here's one book you can use: http://coins.shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3984.m38.l1313&_nkw=whimsy&_sacat=11116 That covers 1793 to 1814 so if you want to cover all of them, this 2 volume set is the best you can get: http://cgi.ebay.com/2-VOL-SET-UNITED-STATES-LARGE-CENTS-WILLIAM-C-NOYES_W0QQitemZ130325941560 Ribbit
There are a number of good Large Cent books, I use Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of Early US Cents, ISBN 0-943161-85-1
There is no once book that will give you enough information to attribute all the varieties. The Breen book is the closest, but I would recommend the following three books as the authoritative references... 1793-1814 Noyes 1816-1839 Noyes 1840-1857 Grellman They are the best to attribute from, IMO. For a more complete library, I would add: Breen's Encylopedia of Large Cents Wright's The Cent Book 1816-1839 Sheldon's Penny Whimsey Newcomb's US Copper Cents 1816-1857
And probably with those is United states Copper cents by newcomb. I find it easier to use than Grellman, but the two together work really nice. I can narrow it down with one and then read the Grellman book for my final answer.
Those are the so-called Early Dates 1793 - 1814. Chain, Wreath, Lierty Cap, Draped Bust, and Classic Head types. In addition to the books Mike quoted, there are two auction catalogs of almost-complete die variety sets of Early Dates : the Walt Husak Collection (Heritage, Feb 2008) and the Dan Holmes collection (Goldberg brothers) which is coming up in a few weeks ! These particular Auction catalogs are vital numismatic literature in their own right. They have most* of the die varieties with state of the art photos. Many of the coins are very high condition census. Thus, the catalog is an excellent visual reference. If you can score those catalogs, do so ! In addition, the Naftzger collection of Late Dates (1840 - 1857) is coming up in a few weeks. Same story on that catalog. Score ! * Holmes has all of them.
One other thing - for a major auction, you can also get a sheet of "prices realized" which is a major part of the numismatic record and will be the focus of future research. The Holmes catalog has a price estimate for each coin. The total should run between $9 million and $12 million. Many of the coins will be 6-figure pieces.
Yes, it has a small fraction of the total varieties. Maybe 10% or less. In fact, the few varieties which are in the Red Book sell for more than their rarity would indicate since they are more well-known ! The so-called "Red Book premium". :headbang: Some folks, when shopping for type, avoid those.
Another couple of really good auction catalogs would be Sept 1986 Robinson S Brown sale and the 1989 Jack Robinson sale, both from Superior Galleries. Once again almost every large cent variety, every lot plated, and the diagnostics for every variety listed. (There is also a 1996 Robinson S Brown Sale from Superior that is also very good and which has even more of the NC varieties. It is good but I still like the 1986 sale better. The 1996 sale is the most complete set of early date varieties that has ever been auctioned. It will hold that record until next month when the Dan Holmes sale is conducted.) If you can I would DEFINITELY get a set of the Dan Holmes catalogs. Dan's set is the most complete set ever assembled It is missing only one Early date variety, 1793 NC-5 which is unique in the ANS collection, the middle date set is complete, and the late date set is missing only one variety, 1851 N-42 which is also unique and the owner is unwilling to sell it to Dan so he can complete the set. The Holmes catalogs have one advantage over the 86 RSB sale and that is that the photograghy is better, but the RSB and Jack Robinson catalogs have the advantage that they list diagnostics and some die state information for each variety. The ideal catalog would have been Holmes pictures with RSB style descriptions.
