This little addition just arrived in the mail today. I had a few minutes to snap some pictures, and I wanted to see what you all thought. It is a pretty common variety, even in high grade, but I think it will look good in my 7070. Any thoughts on the grade?
Yes, that's exactly the sort of circulated copper that would look excellent in an album. Beautiful old coin! I'd grade it EF-40. There are some laminations on the obverse that would hurt the EAC grade, and the reverse has a very weak strike. However, it looks to be in the EF range.
Very nice. This is how I prefer early copper, light/medium brown rather than dark and often barely readable.
This is “a Chapman hoard Unc.” The guides say that the Chapman brothers, who were coin dealers at the turn of the last century, had keg of these coins. This piece is typical for the variety, except for the laminations. Those probably explain why this piece is not in a certification holder. The grade is AU-Unc. with the laminations mentioned for accuracy.
Great coin, absolutely perfect for a 7070. I would also put it at a technical 40. Neither the tiny laminations nor the slightly weak reverse really bother me, but the dark spots around the laminations do a bit. I don’t think PCGS, NGC, or ANACS would net it down to 35 because of them, but they might cause me to keep looking if I were after a type example of the draped bust half cent.
Thanks for the feedback everyone! My instinct was that this coin would land in a 40 holder. I actually like the laminations, but I tend to enjoy these types of oddities. I’m happy to have it in my album.
Here is the 1806 C-4 that is in my collection. It is now in an NGC MS-62, Brown holder. This piece piece was once in my half cent die variety set, which i sold off many years ago. All of these coins show some weakness on the reverse. For that reason, it took me a while to find one I liked, although is a common R-1 die variety. If you are grading the OP coin EF-45 because of the sharpness of the details, you are being a bit too hard on it. It could be net graded to that because of the scratches on the face, but the details are close to Mint State.
Even for a 224 year old coin which gets leniency, there's too much wear for MS. I can see it going AU. I said XF because all things being equal that's what I thought it was at first glance. All things are not equal when it comes to coin grading different series and AU would not surprise me, even though I think it is an XF coin.
Great example Coinsandmedals! Although I do not own one of this variety I actually have 7 1806 "C-1's" in my collection; highest grade is a TPG 45.
Thank you! You have 7 C-1s? That is interesting, are you partial to the variety? During my true EAC days, I had a small hoard of 1853 N-19s (die state C) because I liked the look of the misaligned dies. It was not until the ANA summer seminar in 2013 that I met another collector with a similar affinity for them. When I sold off the most significant part of my second collection years ago, I kept a singular 1853 N-19 and the 1793 S-6 that my dad gave me. I stumbled upon the N-19 the other day, and it brought a smile to my face. It is not the nicest example I have owned, but it is special to me.
My C-1's are "special"- here are images of three of the straight graded examples! I bring the group to EAC Conventions Coinsandmedals; I'm EAC 5050.
@Jack D. Young these are indeed very special. Even more so since they are in TPG holders. At first glance, they look pretty good. I’ve actually been keeping my eye out for one of these since I read your article on them. Very impressive work!
The 1806 C-1 is the second most common Draped Bust half cent. The 1804 C-13, Plain 4, Stemless is the most common half cent PERIOD IMO. It has the same reverse as the 1804 C-13.
