These two cents were given to me by a family member. They were in a small frame and pressed between two glass sheets... in other words, they were not glued to anything. The uneven color makes me think that someone must have tried to polish them before framing them. I know they are now considered damaged because of the lighter colored areas on the coins, but I am happy to leave them alone and just enjoy having a couple of coins from the 1850's. Just thought I would share them with you.
I like em. I remember one of my great uncles had a set of California fractional gold coins mounted in a frame like that. I doubt that they were real though. It wasn't uncommon for the coins to be "freshened up" before they got mounted. I've even seen nickel sets that looked like they were chromed before going into those sets.
If it makes you feel any better, no one has ever given me free large cents in any condition. I'm jealous. Coming from family members makes these quite a bit more meaningful as well. They're awesome!
Yeah, they would "details" grade, but a lot of copper collectors are much more forgiving on details grades because of the reactiveness of copper, especially on old large cents.
