1837 Large Cent Questions

I picked this up today at the coin shop and my questions are:
What kind of die flaw is this,if it is one.....and
Why is there so much detail on the liberty and some stars and almost none on the date and lower part? Almost looks like it was halfway buried in the ground or something

 

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Hi,
The LIBERTY is in a recess on the hairband that allows it to be almost completely visible down to grades of VERY GOOD. It is simply the way the coin was designed. LIBERTY was not on a high area of the design so it didn't wear away too easily.

Your coin looks like it was struck with a cracked die. The coin was probably cleaned as the surface looks pitted. It's hard to tell if the coin was worn around the date or if the weakness was a result of cleaning. It is also possible that since the die was cracked, the strike did not impart the details to the finished coin very strongly in those areas.

It would really require a closer look to give you a little more information.

Have Fun,
Bill

 

I agree, a dug coin with a cracked-die, pitted & cleaned, and partial weak strike.

 

Yes it has been corroded which is what is causing the roughness. This is a late die state of 37 N-2. This obverse die was first used on 37 N-15 (R-4 Scarce). In that marriage the obverse die began to crack down from the rim through stars 4, 3 and 2. In a later state a secondary crack offset to the left of the first crack started to develop with very slight sinking of the die area between the cracks. The reverse die broke up more quickly though and was replaced creating N-2 with a worn breaking up obverse and a new reverse die. After just a short usage another horizontal crack develops from the rim between stars 3 & 4 to the existing crack. (This crack is present on your coin.) Then the area between the two craks to the left of star 4 falls out of the die creating a cud wiping out three points of star 4. Die chipping develops around star 3. This is also present on your coin. The main crack gets heavier and eventually continues on to the rim by Star 1. This variety is fairly common. At that point the obverse die was retired and the reverse was mated with a new obverse to create N-16.