The only hope for this coin is that it might be a Sheldon-2. That variety uses die "A" - the first obverse die - shared with S-1 AMERI. It is characterized by a wide date. If the space between "7" and "9" is wider than the "9" itself, it's obverse die "A". It's really hard to tell from this coin. The chain itself seems poorly centered on the coin; it seems too high, and yet "UNITED" is properly oriented with the rim, so it's not an off-center strike. Personally, I think it's fake. That's not cynicism, it's analysis. If genuine, it's worth a couple of grand; that's why someone would counterfeit it and beat it down to cover their tracks. I'll keep looking. It's possible the orientation and font of the letters may give a clue.
Another problem I have with this coin - I think the hair has been re-engraved. If not an outright counterfeit, it's heavily tooled. Recall this obverse is the first die ever engraved by the United States Mint. They were notoriously low relief coins (i.e. shallow dies). There was no master; Liberty's portrait was sketched directly on the blank die steel and engraved directly on it's face. All of this is very relevant with this specimen; I've handled a dozen or so chain cents over the years, most low grade. All of them this low had only an outline of liberty, never any hair detail. This specimen seems to show almost G or even VG hair sharpness, but that's impossible on a low relief coin this beat. That's re-engraved retooled hair.
Another major aspect of Chain Cents - the hair detail is raised relief, so it wears away fast. On other cents - Wreath, Liberty Cap, Draped Bust, and the rest - they all have incuse depths in Liberty's hair; those valleys are well protected, and persist all the way down to G4 sharpness. Not so with chain cents. When they wear, the hair detail "mountain ridges" are the first to go. It's analagous to the raised LIBERTY on a 20c piece, versus the incuse LIBERTY on all other Seated coins; the raised detail is gone earlier during the wearing progression.
Hi Steve, Welcome to the forum! The post you answered was from sept, 2012, and died. But please read the other posts that may be of interest.
I don't know if you are still looking for information about this but I would say almost 100% its a fake one MS condition should weigh 13.48 grams and the lettering and chain look to think. I hope you didn't pay much.
