Looks like an N10 too me, the leaf under the second S in states is far past the S and the date is spaced 1 81 7, and it looks to be in early-middle die state. The later die states have the stars flowing out towards the very weak dentils. It's an R2 variety so no premium for the variety.
thanks beef. i have noticed from looking at goldberg auctions online catalogs that some die states of large cents bring premiums, i am not sure what to look for in the die states that bring premiums.
Most of the die states that bring a premium are the late die states with cuds, but even there it's a function of supply and demand. The latter die state coins with cuds are generally pretty rare because once the die broke apart, causing the cud, the die was taken out of commission. However there are examples, like the 52 N6 in my avatar, which are very common and hence don't command much of a premium. It's also important to understand that cuds are much more common on early dates due to the lack of experience creating good die steel, whereas in the late date cuds are generally rare. The best resource's on die state rarity and premiums are obtained by joining EAC as there are members who keep census numbers of cuds. Otherwise, most of the standard reference books point out rare and valuable die states, Breen/Wright/Grellman, but these become out of date quickly as more are found. As far as free references, the Goldberg catalogs, which for half cents/large cents are done by Bob Grellman, are very good and up to date, but they are not complete. They are not complete for two general reasons. First, no sale contains all the cuds, even the Holmes IV sale had some missing, and it's often the die states which are not present in a major sale like that which are the most valuable. Second, I believe Grellman's census only contains coins he has seen whereas other census contain all coins reported by active members, both types have their benefits and drawbacks. Here is another good free website with late date census info, but again it's not complete and some of the info is out of date: www.early-copper.com
thanks for the great information. i have been using goldberg auctions online catalogs and the early-copper.com website that you mentioned. i have also used ngc and pcgs coinfacts, 1794largecents.com and sometimes heritage auctions and a few other auction sites, are there any other sites that are similar? this 1852 large cent has the 8 in the date lower than the base of the 1. i could not find any varieties with the date the same as this coin, the 8 is always higher than the base of the 1 on the other 1852 large cents that i have seen. this coin also looks like it has a numeral 1 under the 2 in the date, to the upper right of the 2. the obverse is also slightly off center.
