I own only 1 Two Cent Piece (info from NGC). I inherited this coin from my Mom who got me started collecting coins as a young whipper snapper. I like it and it fits into my Type Set proudly. Can you name the varity?
You are an unusual collector. It amazes me, but there seems to be a very limited interest among collectors in the "odd denominations." I have always liked them with the exception of the Nickel Three Cent Piece which I find king of boring.
Variety = Large Motto I personally like short sets because from the get-go you can see the end. Issues such as Seated Liberty and Barber just don't grab me.
I was one of those kids that when he bought his first Redbook, I spent a lot of time reading the book and marveling at the coin photo's. There were several series that struck me and the two cent coin was one of them. As I learned more and found that piece originated the motto that has graced our coins since... Particularly at a time when our nation needed it, the piece found a permanent place at the top of my favorites.
One of my favorites too. Here's mine (color is way off; actual color is like Corgi's). One of these days I intend to pick up a better example, but this one is OK for now.
Okay?? It looks better than okay to me, it looks really fine. Not even Corgi's has the full bands on the shield. And now, given the year and the first appearance of the motto, I just might start looking for one!
Hmmm. I have it at VP-006 (Flynn RPD-008). Someone has previously told me the missing serif on the D in UNITED was the key diagnostic, but I haven't verified. I don't have Flynn's book. https://www.ngccoin.com/variety-plus/united-states/two-cents/shield-two-cents-1864-1873/816203/
That could very well be the same thing. I don't keep track of Flynn numbers or NGC and their Variety Plus numbering system.
I was using "OK" in a different sense. I don't collect US series, just types, so if I'm going to have only one example of a coin, I like it to be as high quality as I can afford or am willing to spend. I meant this is OK for filling a spot in my collection, for now. I have it at EF-40, but I'd really like to replace it with one that's AU at a minimum.
The missing serif is the result of a working hub break and it appears on every die from that hub. It is NOT a diagnostic of a specific variety, but it can be be something that eliminates many varieties.
If you posted the other closeup picture of the date that user bdunnse posted in this thread: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-two-cent-piece-thread.246093/ , you'd see that there is a die crack through the date. The die crack is diagnostic for RPD-008.
