Hey guys, I was just studying through the Noyes book on Newcomb Variety large cents from 1816-1839, and thought I would test myself with a random ebay auctoin. So, for any large cent people, what is the Newcomb variety on this 1817 large cent? I know what I think it is, so after some guesses, I'll post my thoughts for discussion.
I don't know how the Noyes book works, but I give you credit for trying this area of collecting. I found the Newcomb book very hard to work with. Good luck.
Actually the Newcomb book is not that hard if you just keep trying. Sometimes it is hard to tell c(center) and SPC(slightly past center), etc. I think in this case the placement of the curl makes it an N-13. The only obverse where the curl is left of center of 7. Also you can see a picture at on coinfacts. They do not always have pictures but in this case they do.
N-13 was exactly the variety I had decided that it was. It is a very common variety, in this case a Rarity-1. The main features I noticed were the positioning of the first 1 in the date, the doubled denticle to the left of the first one, the positioning of the lower hair curl (as Mark pointed out), and the positioning of the C in CENT on the reverse. The C is slightly low and leaning right. I have found the Noyes book very easy to use. It uses the Newcomb clasification system, but has great pics and good diagnostics. This is just something new I'm studying a bit.
