Unlikely ever find one but you never know. Anybody have any good steps to attribute this fairly rare Newcomb?
Yeah, first get a copy of the third edition of Grellman's - Attribution Guide for United States Large Cents 1840 - 1857 (My second edition stops at N-29)
Conder101 is correct. The Newcomb or Grellman's books are specialty books purchased by serious Large Cent collectors for $100+. Not likely someone is going to give those books away electronically after dishing out their own money. Though you can't find much written about the diagnostics, there sure are a lot of great pictorial examples of the N-30. Here's what I found quickly using Google: http://www.early-copper.com/coinpics/49N30b.jpg https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-varieties/braided-hair-cents/1849-1c-n-30-978 Good luck!
Never asked for the book but curious if anybody who knows much could say. I have looked at pictures and I can't see anything that stands out to me that if I did one day find one (highly unlikely) I would know it.
If someone here has a copy of the third edition, can they confirm that N-1, 23, and 30 all share the same obv die? I ask because the N-30 on the Coinfacts site is definitely the Obv of N-1 in an early die state, definitely earlier than when it was used on N-23. If it is the same obv it looks like it was used for N-1, N-30, and then N-23
I've been looking at the images of N-1, 23, and 30 from the Dan Holmes sale and they are definitely all the same obv, but I can't make sense out of the die stages of the obverse to establish an emission sequence. OK this is as close as I can get , it looks like N-30 came first then N-1 and finally N-23 Diagnostics for the obv die. (You may have to enlarge the images to see these clearly.) Most noticeable are heavy die lines running up to the right through the curls behind the head. There are other dies that have die lines in this area but most are not as heavy and they run at a different angle. There are two strong die lines coming up from the denticals between stars 1 and 2. Just to the left of the point on star 13 that points to the denticals there is a small die gouge. This is N-30 This is an early die stage of N-1, all the diagnostics are still present and strong. Now it starts to get interesting. This is a mid stage of N-1. All the lines and the die gouge by star 13 are all still clearly present but there have been many rim cuds develop around the top half of the obverse. Apparently the obv die was then taken out and the edge of the die was dressed to turn the rim cuds into a secondary rim. It was then used to strike N-23. This is a mid stage of N-23, notice all the lines and the die gouge are still present but weaker, and the die fields are showing the evidence of heavy die wear. Here is a late stage of N-23. The die has now been lapped. The die gouge is gone and there are only the faintest traces of the lines at stars 1 and 2. The lines behind the head are still present but very weak showing best by the curls behind the neck. Finally the obv was remarried to create the late stage of N-1. Only the lines behind the head remain. The lines seem to be a little stronger than on the late stage of N-23. It is possible there were two remarriages N-1, then 23, then 1 and then 23 again because the late stage of 23 looks later then the late stage of 1. Now we'll look at the reverses in the next post.
Rev of N-30 Once you identify the obv on the rev there seems to be distortions around the wreath especially on the left side. Look for slight crumbling joining the C and the foot of the E in CENT. There is no crumbling inside the upper space in the N in ONE. On N-1 look for crumbling in the top part of N n ONE and the top of the C in CENT is solidly connected to the E by crumbling. In the middle stage a raised bar develops on the O of OF and a small spot of crumbling between the legs of R in AMERICA. For the late stage the die has been lapped removing the bar in the O but the crumbling at the top of CE is heavier as is the crumbling between the legs of the R. Finally on the N-23 the die is well formed with no distortions where it meets the fields and there is no crumbling in the upper part of the Nin ONE and no crumbling joining the CE in cent on early or late states. Now you know more than your ever wanted to.
Wow. Thank you for posting this. I'm going to spend the day now reviewing all my 1849's. Threads like this is why I love Cointalk!
