I'm sure it's just me not understanding, but I'm interested in a nice "fatty" IHC (1859-1864) and don't understand the Greysheet. Under "Flying Eagle and Indian Cents", 1864 has 3 different lines: CN, Br, and L. The "Br" is "brown"... 1) What do the other abbreviations mean? The prices start at $325 for the Br and the rest are $850 or more (I'm working off the Nov 2013 issues). Yet under "Proof Type Coins", they list bid/ask for IHC as low as $70/$77 for a PR60. 2) What am I missing? Thanks. I just want a nice looking IHC, common year, etc.
cn is copper nickel, as that was composition during civil war years. 1864 was a transitional year for the cent. From CN back to 95% copper, then a design change or L. There is a tiny L (for Longacre) turned horizontally within the ribbon behind the neck, but the variety is more readily distinguished by its "pointy" left base of the bust. The copper 1864 non-L has a more rounded left base of the bust.
CN=copper nickel (88% copper and 12% nickel), 4.67 grams Br=Bronze (95% copper and 5% tin and zinc) no "L", 3.11 grams L=Bronze with "L" (for Longacre - the designer) on ribbon behind neck, 3.11 grams
Update to give mintages... 1864 CN - 13,740,000 [370 proofs] 1864 Br - 39,233,714 (including "L" type) [150 proofs] 1864 Br with "L" - estimated 5,000,000 of the 39,233,714 [20 proofs]
>"Proof Type Coins", they list bid/ask for > IHC as low as $70/$77 for a PR60. So what years are they talking about here?
I think they covered the abbreviations. I would say if you just want a nice bronze IHC then there are later years that are cheaper than 1864 and if you want a nice CUNI coin there are cheaper years than 1864. If I recall correctly 1863 was about the cheapest in the MS range.
