Newest large cent. I love the planchet, just wish more details on it. I am hoping Marshall will be able to attribute it. I will work on it later tonight. And as always all comments are welcome both good and bad.
It is a 1794 Liberty Cap Large Cent, Head of 1794. According to the 2011 Red Book, this coin grades about AG-3, and worth about $140.
First off really nice coin mark_h! Secondly: I'm really a novice when it comes to large cents but I sure do love the early ones, does anyone know why the reverse is worn down flat but the obverse isn't? Thanks
my quick guess would be another S-65 like the one i got not long ago. its nice even with the flat reverse.
This is a nice planchet and easily identifiable as Obverse 32. Unfortunately, that obverse die was used with 3 reverses. 1. Reverse GG (No Fraction Bar) on the S-64 R5-. 2. Reverse HH (Single Berry between D S) on the S-65 R1. Statistically, the most likely. 3. Reverse LL (2 Berries between D S) on the NC-6 R8-. Ths die buckles and could explain the missing reverse detail, but I can't verify either a late die state on the Obverse or any detail on the reverse to attribute it. The edge appears to be the Edge of 1795. Let me call it the distant L Edge until I verify which is which. It matches the second of my S65s. Upon further review, I'm changing my mind on the Edge. The bottoms are too worn for accurate assessment on the spacing of the bottom of the Ls, but the tops of the L L and A are evenly spaced on the Edge of 95 and the Ls are closer and the A distant on the Edge of 94.
I am novice also- I know swelling dies would cause areas not to struck or weakly struck. Seems like more on the reverse than the obverse. I know from penny whimsy this is called the shield hair because the border milling on the left side is deep and heavy and this protected the hair and left side of the coin. This was suppose to be true on both sides, but this baby saw some action in its time. I absolutely love the planchet on it. Thanks Marshall - I will list it as a S-65, which is probably what it is. I have tried various angles, under my scope, etc. No luck on seeing any details.
Don't totally give up on attribution though. The dentils at 8 O'Clock are merging from either wear or die deterioration and I haven't seen that on any other Obverse 32. I'd make sure to have someone with access to Breen's book with die sequencing notes take a look. Sometimes the die state of the obverse can confirm the ID. I keep going back and forth on the edge, but i see a break on the top left of the A of DOLLAR which matches the worn examples of the edge of 94. To be honest, I think the edge of 94 on the S-65 I have now looks different from any of the worn edges of 94 or 95. It could be the only one I've seen with better preserved edge detail or a different edge. I think I'm going to have to break down and get Breen's encyclopedia of early copper cents. I keep violating the Rule - Get the BOOK first.
S-65 die state IV the crack from rim up through the 9 to bust is present. You really should. It is out of print and becoming harder to find. I just ran across my deluxe copy again the other day. (I have two copies, the clothbound deluxe and the shiny blue one with the pictures on the cover. Oddly I have seen more copies of the deluxe edition on the market than the "mass market" version. My copy of the deluxe is a rare version. When they had them printed they made 500 copies of the deluxe edition and over 450 of them arrived from the printers with the cover smeared with glue. About 30 copies were shipped out and the rest were sent back to the printer for rebinding. The 30 originals have a blue cloth binding, the rebounds have a green cloth binding.)
Well I did get the Breen Encyclopedia of Early US Cents. ( The common Slick Blue 2000 edition) I think i see the break from the rim to the point of bust but not the one that developes from the rim to the lower cap so I would say S-65 State V.
I couldn't see the crack to the point of the bust in the pictures which is why I said IV, but I don't have the advantage of having the coin in hand.
