1848 Large Cent Attribution Woes

I was trying to attrubute a bunch of late-date large cents I got in a lot, and this one presented me the most trouble. The other five were done in 15 minutes total, but after 15 minutes for this coin I still did not have anything definitive.

For the record, I am using a PDF of Newcomb's original work, so it does not have any varieties inclueded after his work was published. Is it one of those?

@SuperDave @C-B-D @Marshall @Conder101

 

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I'd love to help. but I've never even gotten the literature on Late Date Large Cents.

 

I'll venture a guess at N-15(R3). It took a while to even come up with that number. I don't know if that is correct, but, it seems to be the closest. Mostly due to the relationship between the left edge of 1 and the left edge of the denticle.

The curl is hard to say whether it is slightly right of 8. Or if the curl is between the 8 and 4. I believe the rough spots between star 2 and 3 along the denticle are there. The rough spot along the edge of her bun at the back of her head looks like another attribute.

What number(s) did you come up with?

 

I think I agree with N-15. Most can be eliminated pretty quickly, but there are a few that are pretty close. It's also pretty close to N-2, but I don't see the die chip under the 1. Here are images from the Dan Holmes auction catalog of his N-15.

 

Using the Grellman book, I'd sticker it as N-15. Date position is a match.

 

It looks exact to me.

 

Okay. That works for me. For some reason, I has assumed that "midway between 8 and 4" in Newcomb's book meant the point of the hair curl was much further to the right. I see what he means now.

 

I agree the obv is that of N-15, but I can't tell if it is N-15 or 42. They both use the same obv.

 

I don't have my stuff in front of me at the moment, but do we know that N-42 is a different die marriage? I thought I remember reading that it was a different stage of the same marriage, or was it just a different stage of the obverse die? The N-15 did show die cracks on the reverse, but I don't know how heavy they are or if they'd show up on this coin if examined in hand.

 

Need better pictures?

 

Check the reverse for vertical die scratches left of the C and right of the T in CENT. This would be N-42, but would probably not be easily seen on your coin. The obverse of N-42 has a more polished field than N-15. N-15 will have some surface unevenness near in the fields near the denticles all the way around. I think I see this on your coin between star 2 and 3.

 

I just looked at the coin under a loupe. The scratches are plainly obvious. It is an N-42.

 

In Grellmans second edition they were separate varieties, I don't have a third edition. Dan Holmes die have an N-42 in his set so it is probably not a delisted variety.

If it is an N-42 congratulations, that's an R-6 coin.