1859 Indian Cent with Shield on Reverse

Alright, now I'm really confused. Just received an NGC MS 65 Indian Cent from a dealer I've done business with for a long time. As I'm entering it in my database, I notice that it has a shield on the reverse. I've checked the Red Book, and the shield doesn't show up on the reverse until 1960. I've checked past auction results on Teletrade and current auctions on eBay, neither of which showed any 1859 Indian Cents with shield on reverse.

Any ideas as to what is going on?

Thanks.

 

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Should read 1860. My Bust.

 

Good news, sir ! You have a pattern. The same dies were used on both copper (J-229, rarity r.7+) and copper-nickel (J-228, rarity r.1).

Based upon the color and relative rarities, it's probably the J-228. The latest Whitman book lists it at $1500 in MS65, but also shows an auction record of $1383 in August 2008. Most prices are off a bit since then, especially patterns. My experience is the book's estimates are high, sometimes as much as 30%.

 

More good news... Heritage lists a recent sale of an MS65 at $1840... not too shabby !

http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=1140&Lot_No=1465

 

I agree - it's a pattern. Nice find.

 

These 1859 IHC patterns are some of the few I've ever seen which were MS business strikes, not proofs.

 

Hmmm... maybe not such good news after all. The regular issue 1859 IHC in MS65 shows $3000 in the greysheet, meaning the pattern is worth less than the business strike.

Recent sales on Heritage bear that out. 1859 IHCs in MS65 range from $2200 to $3450.

 

Alright, this is not really good news. I spent considerably more than what it appears this pattern is worth. Cost for this coin was $3000 and change. Will probably have to return it to the dealer.

 

Hmmmm.... here's another concern I have. Major TPGs like NGC were supposed to be experts on coins; how did they let this slip by ? How did they not know that 1859 IHCs have a laurel wreath, not an oak wreath with shield ?

If they miss something that overt, how can I trust them to catch subtleties of counterfeits of ever-increasing deceptiveness ?

 

Yes. A good dealer will give 100% refund on a deal like this every time.

 

This may have been the 400th coin that this particular grader saw that day. I envision an assembly line and maybe the whistle blew for everyone to go home and he was in a rush.

 

First, verify it's the more common copper-nickel Judd-228; it certainly appears to be from it's color. If it's the copper Judd-229, it's a real rarity. Even mighty Heritage lists only one sale; 10 years ago, an MS61 went for $1050.

Whitman lists the J-229 MS65 at a cool 15 grand.

 

Any suggestions on how to determine if it's the copper-nickel or the copper? Who are the experts in this field? I've never collected coppers before, just got this for a type set I'm building.

 

This is the last pattern coin I want in my collection. Nice!

 

I hear they only look at each coin for about 5-6 seconds. I wouldn't be surprised if the graders accidentally let this one slip considering the amount of coins they go through in a day.

 

Since they made that error, I image that they weighed the coin first, and conforming to the weight of the copper-nickel cent, it went in the regular slab. Another issue could be that the person paying to have it slabbed forgot to pay the extra $15 to have it researched as a pattern, so it was put in a regular slab (yes, they would actually do that).

 

If so, that strongly suggests it's the more common copper-nickel variety. Assuming the rarer variety's planchet conforms to the bronze planchets used for later IHCs, there is no way they would miss the discrepancy if they were careful in their weighing.

 

Thats what I am thinking 900fine, but this is contingent on the fact that they did, in fact, weigh it...

 

I broke out Rick Snows book on these patterns. Quick question - are the dies rotated on your example?

 

From Rick Snow. Referring to the copper-nickel varieties with the shield. "The non-proof examples were struck in large numbers and are found in very high levels of presevation. The ratio of very choice examples to impaired and circulated pieces is much lhigher than other cent patterns of similar rarity ... It is possible that many may have existed in a hoard until their numismatic value increased enough for collectors to care for them better, possibly as late as 1870. " If you coin has a "small die line in the denticles to the left of the 1, it is definitely the copper nickel variety with a high mintage.