So what is your opinion on this Connecticut copper? I used to live in CT for about 25 years (10 years ago), so I have an urge to pick one of these up. Some of these types of coins seem very smooth (almost oddly smooth and glossy), but this one is a bit on the rough side. From looking at it, it is probably rough due to that green corrosion (the name escapes me and I couldn't find it in a search). I'd guess that it was once covered with it, cleaned, and now this is the result. Even if it wasn't, it seems cleaned either way. Not a horrible example, but maybe I should pass on it. Opinons? Worth? I'd like to get one, but I doubt I'd spend more than $100 on one. Looking for something decent.
I don't know enough about colonials to say if it is genuine or not - but I know a polished coin when I see one. That's explains the smooth and glossy
It would seem that the second one is, though there are quite a few that look like that. I'm actually more concerned with the first one though. Any comments on what seems to be traces of green corrosion (could be the lighting of the picture), and/or thoughts in general about the coin, price, etc. ?
The coin definitely shows signs of corrosion, it could easily be the result of verdigris - very common on copper coins. As for price - not a clue. I would suggest a bit of research in the realized auction prices. But in my mind what is more important is the coin's authenticity. Coins of this type have been counterfeited so often that the counterfeits outnumber the genuine. I would never buy such a coin that was not authenticated unless I had implicit trust in the seller.
verdigris... that was the word I was thinking of. I've looked at realized prices, seems they are all over the place, not to mention that there's not tons of these sold, nor are they terribly expensive. RE: authenticity I thought (and I could very well be incorrect) that sold coins had to be genuine (unless stated otherwise) by law? That one could return a non-genuine coin to a dealer (not sure if there's a time limit). As I said, I could be incorrect on this.
As I'm sure you know, values are largely dependent upon condition for any coin. But there is more that plays a part as well. When checking auction prices, always be sure to make note of the dates for the transactions. This is important for several reasons. For since the coin market is cyclical in nature you need to know the date in order to know at what point of the cycle the sale occurred so the price will be relevant to the present time. Also remember, not only is the market as a whole cyclical, but so are subsections of the market like colonial coins. Different types of coins wax and wane in popularity in any coin market. At times of low popularity prices will be low and the opposite will be true in times of high popularity for a given type. As you have noted, records for this type of coin will be somewhat limited, especially on ebay. To find auction records for colonial coins one would do better to check such sources as Heritage, Teletrade, Bowers & Marena, Superior, ANR and the like. The big auction houses will more often than not be the source for coins like this. As a general rule, if a coin has been sold by one of the major auction houses you can trust that the coin was authentic. And no, there is no time limit for returning counterfeit coins.
Coin above was sold so in this case, it doesn't matter. I'll still probably look for these, but I wasn't sure on this one due to the corrosion and what seemed to be past corrosion (and even worse current verdigris).
I actually rather liked that first CT. Yes the surfaces were very finely rough but it had a good appearance and decent detail. Another thing that controls the value of these coins is the die variety. There are over 350 varieties in this series and many of they em are quite scarce to very rare. (Fortunately even though they are rare the number of people collecting them is low enough that they are usually not extremely expensive in the lower grades. I have seen R-6 and R-7 coins in good sell for around $200.)
