I have been adding to my collection of U.S. coins and I (recently) picked up a 1787 Fugio (large) cent. Now I know that it is pretty 'beat-up, but even coins in this state are commanding high prices and this was one I could afford. (I would grade my coin as no more than 'Good'.) I looked my coin up in my copy of the 2017 "Red Book", and then my confusion started. 1 over horizontal 1 ? So I looked up previous comments (on C.T.) about this coin, and I read "Newman 1-B and 1-Ba, and even Newman 11x. I saw the term 'clash' and the comment "Reverse B or CC or L or Z. I also saw a comment about "R inside the label". I have no idea how any of these comments apply to my coin. I don't even know if there is a definitive 'Obverse' and 'Reverse'. Does anyone have any useful advice about my coin that they can give me, please? Thank-you.
I think it looks good! These Fugios didn't ever get struck up well, It's a good looking piece. I got to look at MS 64 Fugio at the Worlds Fair. But, I'd a much rather bought a raw one like yours.
Congrats on owning a Fugio! I have one (a 1-B), and it's my pride and joy. Here's some quick, off the top of my head info I can give you without doing a little research - The first image you posted is the reverse You have a "States United" variety It looks like a 4 cinquefoil (aka cinq) version, not the 'cross after date' I think it's a pointed ray design, not the club rays. The "1-B", "11x", etc refer to the die pairing. Obv die 1 with rev die B makes a 1-B variety, etc. There are a number of die pairings, and I'm not familiar with them enough to make a determination (others on the site can do it easily). Your reverse looks like it will be easy to ID. The spacing and offsets of the letters should be screaming which die it's off of. If you could post larger images, it would be great.
The "sundial" side on yours is poorly struck, which is not that unusual. The "chain" side is quite nice (again, from all I've seen, it's not that unusual for this side to look better). I must confess that as of this typing (without going and looking it up just yet), I do not recall offhand which side is considered the "obverse" and which the "reverse" on these. I suspect the sundial side is the obverse. Going off to check, now... Edit: yes, this is correct. The "sundial" side is the obverse and the "chain" side the reverse, as I thought. Coinfacts page Wikipedia page Congrats on owning a tough coin that is sought after in any condition. Doesn't matter how beat up or worn, corroded, etc- any identifiable Fugio cent will always have a market.
Nice pickup. Not sure I could ever grade these - local dealer showed me a graded one (with grade covered) and ask me to grade it. Don't get me wrong - it was really nice, but looked AU to me. It was a MS coin and man was the strike weak. Yours looks really nice.
Don't kick yourself. TPG's and dealers regularly overgrade old U.S. coins like this, especially the larger ones that were more subject to abuse or known for their weak strikes. (This is just my opinion, but it is shared by more than a few others as well)
