I don't know too much about large cent types, and I know a lot of CT'ers collect them. Can anyone tell me about these? I got them from a private collection. They were in protective holders, I took them out only to take a few photos. Enjoy. The last large cent is the reverse of the 1852. (woops) The 1851 and 1848 are the other reverse pictured.
These are cool pieces! I love large and half cents and you have some nice ones. Not too long ago, these, along with half cents were not too popular. Recently however they are becoming more and more popular. The ones that you have are all considered Braided Hair types. Large cents minted from 1793-1857 and braided hair large cents in particular were minted from 1839-1857. So these large cents that you have are all later pieces. The ones that you have are all common dates, but are really awesome pieces that you should hold onto for a while. There is a variety for 1851 were the 51 was struck over 81, and although it is rare, if you can get a larger, clearer picture of your 1851 cent, we can check to see if you have one. They seem to be in F-VF condition and as of right now they are worth about 25-30 dollars, but if you have a 51 over 81, then it would be worth about 60 bucks. Hope this helps, thanks for posting!
Thanks! I'll get pics up of the Obverses. I also got an 1840 half dime from the same collection as well.
Large cents have always been popular. Early American Copper collectors just dance to a different drummer. The typically shun slabs and TPG's, and grade coins along a slightly different standard. Old copper isn't body bagged for damage. It is net graded. But I agree that more folks are discovering these very cool coins. They were made during the country's early days using laborious minting methods, poor quality material, with controversial designs that seemed to constantly change. In 1839, for example, four different obverse designs were minted. The coins themselves are fun to collect raw. They're big (almost half dollar size), heavy, and made from pure copper. They can be a little rough due to their soft metal and poor planchets. But many survived nicely and they're not terribly expensive (except for the earliest years). The OP's 1851 is not an 1851/81. Lance.
Many areas of numismatics where there is a more, maybe "academic" approach to collecting do not like slabs. Slabs are fine for high grade coins, or where a tiny bit of grade can matter, or if someone wants the security of the guarantee. Large cents, like colonial coppers, ancient coins, medieval coins, is more based on study, weighing, etc where we want access to the coin itself. They are areas where more study is required, therefor more knowledgable collectors who do not need TPG verification or grade opinion, so a slab is not desirable. For ancients, my area now, weight, edge details, flan preparation, all need to be studied and I do not want the coin locked away in plastic preventing me from this. While I respect who is grading ancients at NGC now, I still have no need to pay a fee for him to give his opinion and lock my coin away from me. For these areas, slabs are really for novice collectors who aren't as advanced as others and need the safety of a TPG slab. I have told friends their graduation from being a novice is the day they crack open their first ancient slab. I don't HATE TPG slabs, but in my field, and other fields I have described, I do not feel that they add value. Chris
Here's a couple coppers I got from my girlfriends Grandma. She got wind of me collecting coins and after she sold a whole lot she gave me a few ones that didn't have high monetary value. GrandmasRule edit - the first reverse is of the '46
Airtites(or something like it), 2x2's, etc. Nothing special about protecting them. Personally I think more and more of the copper coins are ending up graded and staying in slabs.
if those are the bad ones and you got em for nothing to bad you didnt get a chance to buy the good ones.
They are costly, which is annoying because they aren't that rare. I remember one time seeing a hoard of fifty of them in Larry Briggs case. For EAC we start with a strict technical grade and then make deductions for various problems such as porosity, scratches, color etc to arrive at a net grade. There are no written standards for deductions and mostly net grading is learned from experience. Surprisingly even though different people have different distaste for various problems, experienced EACers will typically net grade large cents very similarly.
I KNOW RIGHT I didn't even get a chance to see what all the other coins were. I think she has a few left for birthdays and christmas for me. She also has given me a coupe Indianhead Cents, no key dates or anything. - One even had a whole-ish thing in it (the indianhead cent) that later on I read it was nailed to a house for good luck to the homeowner. edit - Grandmas rule ;P
Sounds identical to ancients. This really is the way all coins were graded around the world until the advent of the "American" type of grading and slabbing. I am a pround American, and a combat vet, but am just not a fan of this recent export of ours.
