I got a drapedbust large cent in a lot of damaged and low grade coins. Its heavily worn but i can just make out 1804 for the date. Anyone know what to look for on a heavily worn out 04 to tell if its real or a fake? My scanner sucks at getting pictures especially on something this worn. I can make out a little more in person. Thanks.
The coin looks likely genuine, but I can't make out the date at all. You need to take a closeup of the date.
Looks real to me too. With a loupe you should be able to pick out some of the digits in the date, no? T
Well I can't see any of the cuds usually associated with 1804. I do not think it is an 1804, mainly because of the leaf cluster adjacent to the M - it looks to high for the 1804. The examples I looked at all have the cluster ending around ME - not up towards the AM. Just my thoughts.
Thanks. With good light I can make out the 804 in the date. its just the only thing i can get pictures with right now is the scanner and this is the best i can do with it. Where would the cud be located if its real? Looking at it it could be possible that it was a 5 with damage but i'm not sure.
Follow this link - http://www.largecents.net/collection/coinpics/s266c.jpg. There are some early die states do not show the cuds like this - review more examples at heritage.
I haven't tried to figure out what it IS, but Mark is right it is NOT an 1804. The 1804 has a berry below the center of the M and the leaf points are down around the right upright of the M. Yours has the leaf points below the center of the M.
Thanks. I just signed up with heritage and started looking around. looking at the last number on my coin i though it might have a bit of a 5ish look but it dosn't really match up as well to the 5 on 1805s. And still looks alot more like a 4. Of course I also noticed that the horizontal line in the "4" on my coin looks to be slightly above center of the 0 which doesn't match up with the pictures. How likely would it be that at one point a 1805 would have been modified to look like a 1804?
Zero. An 1803 die was modified to 1804 but that didn't happen until after 1820 and they were sold to collectors and don't come anywhere near that low a grade. They are also easily recognizable.
I think what he was saying was an 1805 large cent modify to a 4. Not the dies as you mentioned with the restrikes. I have only seen a couple of coins modified to the 1804, but they were crude and I do not know what the original date on the coin was.
Thanks again guys. Yea I meant the coin itself and not the dies. The reason i ask is that the horizontal line on the 4 looks to be at about the same space as the top of the curve on the 5. also it seems to have a small piece going straight up from the left side of that line before the slanted line starts.
On all genuine 1804 original large cents (not the restrikes ca. 1820), the 0 in the date is directly opposite the O in OF on the reverse. Per Sheldon's Penny Whimsy.
