Classic Head Large Cent for opinions...

Here is another one outside of ebay that I am considering for $1250 in the future. It is ANACS certified. Opinions??

 

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I'd be hard pressed to pull the trigger on that one with those pictures... unless you get a good return policy.

 

I fixed them.... you can see it a lot better now... and the ticks and hits too

 

I would say AU 50+ without the coin in hand
Very Nice What did ANACS say, am i close?

DE

 

What color is The Real Thing ?

Overall, this one is w-a-y superior to the other. Lots of meat. Those ticks and taps won't knock it down much. Looks like an early die state; I'll verify that when I get behind a book.

Looks nicely and evenly struck, if just a bit off center.

Is that a double profile ? Double denticles ? I'm eager to see what Breen has to say about this one.

Off the top of my head I'd say solid XF, average+. I'll check CQR when I get home.

I'm curious about color, texture, and luster. Can't tell much from these photos. With such little wear, hopefully it still has some original luster.

 

That coin is much more impressive than the other.

 

Well, well.... he did put it up on ebay too.(It's TNFC) Before he just had it on the company site. AnywaysI decided to go for it, since I haven't seen a problem free Classic Head cent with that much meat on it go for under $1500 in a while(I've been looking too). TNFC is a very established seller with a rock-solid return policy, so if there is something wrong with the coin, I will just send it back. I went over budget this month, so will probably be selling some junk silver to recoup... Here is the link. ANACS XF-45. After looking through heritage, this is definitely one of the stronger XFs, and the obverse I believe has full AU details.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320500328227

 

Thanks for all of your detailed input 900fine! I'll do some analysis and address your questions when the coin arrives.


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Great Coin!!

 

I remember seeing this coin on the website - I have used tnfc several times for coins. There pictures are generally darker than the coin itself. They are not real good with pictures. Very nice coin!

 

Well, pics are tough to really get a sense, but I like that 1814. These are hard to come by without some nicking. Nice coin! :thumb:

"Finding choice specimens for this series (1808-14) represents quite a challenge for collectors. During this era the US Mint received all their copper planchets from the firm of Mathew Boulton in Soho-Birmingham, England. Boulton’s reputation as a manufacturer of copper planchets was highly regarded. Despite this, most of the copper blanks used to strike the cents suffered corrosive damage as a result of being stored in the damp holds of ships crossing the Atlantic. This would account for the often poor quality of many of these coins. As relations between the two countries deteriorated in 1812, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Mint Director Patterson to obtain new orders from Boulton and once the War of 1812 had begun, all shipment of copper blanks ceased. So, despite the beauty of Reich’s Classic Head design, it has been difficult to find chocolate-brown specimens free of porosity or granulation. Many Classic Heads appear black while others surface with a surfeit of problems such as verdigris, scratches or scrapes; occasionally rim nicks along with attempts at enhancement that may include buffing, polishing, re-coloring or retooling the design elements. According to numismatic scholar Robert W. Julian, a large percentage of these cents were paid out in salaries to Mint employees."

 

Thanks for your comments. I will be removing this coin from the slab in order to place it into my Dansco 7070. One thing I'm concerned about is possible corrosion over time. Is there a way to prevent this or at least hinder it? I've heard of coating coins with olive oil, but I'm reluctant to do anything to the surface, especially a coin of high value. I live in the desert, so humidity isn't really an issue.

 

Coin Received

Received coin, and photographed it.

Good news:

1. The coin is very detailed, definitely AU details imo.
2. The color is a pleasing dark brown, instead of the "black" that the sellers pics made it look like(you were right Mark).
3. There is absolutely no corrosion or microporosity on the coin, even under a 30x loupe.
4. Though the pictures make the nicks look bad, they aren't that distracting in hand.

Not quite as good news(what holds it back from AU imo):

1. There is very little luster remaining, just hints around the devices.
2. The coin has a bit of a glossy look.

These things make me think the coin was wiped or "conserved" at some point. Not bad enough to leave hairlines or mess with the color, but enough to make ANACS "silently" net the coin at XF-45. I concur with that grade btw, and am definitely keeping it since I would be hard pressed to find a similarly detailed corrosion free CHLC for under 2 grand.

Here are some additional pictures:

 

More pictures!!

Here it is under direct light source:

 

Looks XF to me, but I do agree with you. To me it almost looks porous.

 

Is it just the lighting or in your first pics do I see a little rim bumpy at about 3 O'Clock on the obverse?

Even if it is... that is one heck of a hard coin to find with much meat on it.