I have the 1831 N12 large cent with the die crack connecting the obverse stars, and a friend of mine has an 1818 large cent with identical die crack. It would be really cool to put together a set of large cents with this type of die crack. I wonder how many other large cents have this die crack?
The radial cracking is fairly common on early and mid date large cents; not so much with the late date braided hair series. There was a thread her a while back where someone was able to show the progression of a crack forming. It was really neat to see, but I don’t recall who posted it.
Here’s the 1831 N12, still learning about varieties, and combing thru my other 1831 large cents, to see what I have. N12 definitely jumps out of the crowd. I grade this VF, is it medium letters?
I am also learning a lot about color or toning/patina of the large cent, how would you describe the color of the middle coin? Dark?
17 N-12 18 N-8 18 N-10 20 N-13 25 N-4 crack is light 27 N-8 27 N-9 30 N-2 31 N-9 31 N-11 31 N-12 33 N-2 34 N-1 34 N-2 34 N-5 34 N-6 35 N-1 36 N-4 I've only listed varieties that have cracks through all or almost all stars. On several of these the cracks are not overly impressive.
Yes N-12 does jump out, especially in later die stages. N-12 shares the same obv with N-11. Terminal stage of 31 N-12, the "Harpooned Whale"
