Newest Large Cent

Just happened to stumble on this at the local shop. Not a bad little coin in my opinion and perfect for the ol' dansco album. Not sure I can attribute it, but not too concerned - thinking S-8 or 9.

 

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vines and bars or lettered edge. I don't know the sheldon scale at all, but something that came out of the mint at that time I'd say you couldn't go wrong.

 

Nice! and almost certainly an S-8, (much scarcer than S-9).
See shape of the bow and ribbons below.

A nice purchase Mark.

Eduard

 

Vines and bars. And yes thanks Edward, that is what I will list it as. The worst part about it is the local shop almost seemed disappointed that I did not buy the better example they have. The better example was probably VF details, but was corroded across the obverse and reverse. Just was not as pretty as this one in my opinion. I thought I would never own one of the big 5 coins. I could not believe the price for what I consider a better planchet than most they have had(yes they had a problem free VF once for about 6k - a real beauty). Most have been corroded or dinged, but much better details.

 

Nice pickup there Mark, I concur on S-8. With a mintage of only 63,353 there are more collectors without one than have one. :thumb:

 

I will go along with that and I thought I would always be one of those collectors. Maybe the local shop will get in a chain cent or 1804 that looks about the same. I have yet to see them get any 1804 - the chain and 1799's I have seen them get in have been heavily corroded, but decent details(and prices to match).

 

Quite a milestone ! Congrats. :thumb:

Yep, looks like a great flan.

 

And taking a wild guess at survival rate of 3%, no more than 2,000 are around today.

 

This is an S-8 absolutely no question about it. It's an R-3- so there are maybe between four and five hundred of them around. Definitely not enough to keep up with demand. It's a VERY nice coin. I really like the color and the surfaces. That is a coin to be very proud of.

 

Originally Posted by PennyGuy
Nice pickup there Mark, I concur on S-8. With a mintage of only 63,353 there are more collectors without one than have one.

Good guess. Dave Bowers (Guide Book of UNITED STATES TYPE COINS) estimates between 2,000 and 3,000 Wreath cents survive with more than 2/3 of the certified population being VF or poorer condition.

Luckily for us (assuming we can afford one), both the chain and wreath cents survived in larger proportions (~2.5% and ~4% respectively) than the typical 1% survival rate of 19th century coinage

 

Mark, you know what is nice about your S-8 is the fact the planchet, albeit worn, is nice, smooth and free of distracting rim nicks or else. That is why I like it, and it still shows enough detail. In fact, I think you did well choosing this one, rather than the VF/corroded example you described. There are enough coppers with problems out there: none of my Wreaths for example are problem free like yours.
I followed this logic also BTW when purchasing my 1796 Draped Busts cents: I went for planchet quality (whenever possible) rather than details level when chosing them, even if that meant lower grades.
Another plus for your coin is that it is more desirable IMHO than the (much) more common S-9.

I am sure the other "biggies": the Chain, 1799, 1804, and maybe even the 1793 liberty cap will one day come your way. BUT, the Liberty Cap will be the most difficult in my opinion. I still don't have one, and really regret passing up TWO ocassions to purchase one at still reasonable prices (many years ago.....)...if only....

Good luck with the hunt, and congrats again on your first wreath!

 

A favor to ask since the discussion is on wreath cents.
Can anyone tell me the Sheldon number of this wreath cent? Unfortunately, the reverse is so corroded that no diagnostics are possible.
Thanks, in advance.

 

:thumb: :thumb:

 

Great buy, Mark, other than the wear that LC looks to be in great condition. Kudos!

 

On a trip and do not have my books with me, but maybe if you post larger pictures(as best as possible) of both sides(it maybe corroded, but someone might see something that helps) we can try.

PS - Thanks for all the comments.

 

Originally Posted by Cringely
A favor to ask since the discussion is on wreath cents.
Can anyone tell me the Sheldon number of this wreath cent? Unfortunately, the reverse is so corroded that no diagnostics are possible.
Thanks, in advance

Unfortunately, that is the best picture I have. I'll try to take a better picture next week and post it then.
P.S., Mark, if you don't mind, what did you pay for your Wreath cent?

 

Nice coin....:bow::bow: Coin Facts at PCGS list survival # at 4,789. (all grades,raw or slabbed)

 

The old CoinFacts website listed the survival rate as "Probably about 4% of the original 63,353 coin mintage survive: 2,400 to 2,800 in all grades, of which 30 qualify as Mint State,"

Also, the old CoinFacts website lists for the Chain cent: "Quantitative rarity ratings indicate that slightly more than 1,000 Chain Cents survive of all kinds, or about 2.8% of the original mintage. (Survival proportions vary with later designs and dates)."

Bowers in A Guide Book of UNITED STATES TYPE COINS, 1st ed. lists the survival rate of Wreath cents to be 2,080 to 31,10 with Chain cents being 714 to 1,119 (circulated and mint states).

The 4,789 vs. {2,400 to 2,800} & {2080 to 3110} seems to be a large discrepancy. Does anybody know why the PCGS CoinFacts number is so much (nearly 2x) larger?

 

Around $450. Every other one I have seen them have were priced around $1600 to $2000. Granted the details were easier to read, but all were heavily corroded.

 

Cringely,
That is obv 9 which comes on three varieties S-8, S-9, and NC-4. Unfortunately you have to be able to identify the rev in order to nail down the variety completely.

Mark, $450? You stole it.