Remember that 1864 L cent that I posted that I bought from bad pictures? Well, it arrived today... In case you don't remember, here are the pictures I bought from: I paid $160, which was quite a bit of risk. This is what arrived. An acetone soak is going to happen immediately to try to get some of the gunk off.
You did very well! That is at least AU and if it cleans up well it may be uncirculated. You could have a $300 coin on your hands. By the way, I know that the mint added the "L" late in production but I never heard what it stands for. Do you know why it was added or what it means?
That makes sense. I can think of a number of better places they could have put it other than in his hair though.
Don't leave it in the acetone too long. I left a 1907 Indian in acetone for a week and it really discolored it from it's AU copper color. My mistake
No, the obverse hub changed in 1864 (and again in 1886) which introduced multiple changes, including the addition of the designer's initial. The L was a permanent feature after 1864.
Your pics of the 1864 L came out better than mine. But here's your shield nickel after the acetone removed 99% of the green gunk.
