Hi again everyone. Here,s a couple of coins from my type set. I love these old cent and half cents. funny how the half cent has the slanted 5,s. Is this 1851 cent the one they call the funny or booby head? Whats the story on that name? and last of all w ] hat do you pros grade these at? Thanks again...
funny and booby head were from 1839. 1851 looks vf 30 or so. 1855 half cent looks like xf details to me. Rim damaged. Cannot see 1836 coin well in pics
Copper is fun to collect, but the large cents are the best. I think the 1851 looks around vf-35 and xf details on the half cent. Hard to say about the cleaning on the large cent, but it is possibly cleaned. The picture make it look cleaned - in my opinion.
As jerryc39 said the biiby head is only on the 1839. There is no "funny" head, you are probably thinking of the "silly" head, also only in 1839. As for the story behind the name, no one really knows. In the earliest known use of the name booby head it is clear from the description that the writer was referring to an earlier usage of the name that has never been traced. (He used it with no explanation which would indicate that he assumed the reader would know what he was talking about.)
Thanks for the great info. That fills a piece to the puzzle for me. I think this Booby terminology originated , as reference to a bird. Perhaps the blue footed booby? They have a longish neck, yet a beautiful bird. I also notice her neck is longer on the bust ,on these type coins. Hence, the referral Booby?
But it is no longer than on the silly head, head of 38 or the 39/6 (or any of the other young heads 1835 -38.) So there is nothing special about the neck on the booby
