The phrase “buy the book before the coin” is often encountered in this hobby and is a point that I wholeheartedly support. Buying coins while unarmed with the proper knowledge can be a very risky adventure; however, here is a story in which purchasing the coin first actually paid off. Let me start by saying that this was, for the most part, sheer luck. I do not want there to be anything confusing about this point for newcomers; you should always buy the book before the coin. With that said, let me tell you my story. I have been somewhat successful at cherry-picking from larger auction houses over the years, and now most recently from my collection. The coin in question is a 1797 Penny struck at the Soho Mint. I had initially purchased this as a business strike. For those of you unfamiliar, the business strikes have two main varieties, which are noted by either ten leaves or 11 leaves in the wreath on George III’s head. The 10 leaves variety is extremely common in comparison to the 11 leaves variety (i.e., KP-22). I originally cherry-picked this coin, thinking it was the 11 leaves variety but paid well under the typical cost for the more common ten leaves variety. Like most of my other purchases, this coin was raw, so I sent it to NGC to be graded. I listed it as an MS strike 11 leaves variety (i.e. P-1133) and was pleased when it came back MS-62. A few months later I was working on my custom registry set when I stumbled upon a note made by peck on page 307, which stated “The dot flaw in the field below the bust, noted under KP-17 also occurs, apparently invariably, on this current Obv”. This note piqued my interest, and I went to investigate KP-17 (i.e., P-1120 to P-1123). To my surprise, I found that the two are incredibly similar. Could it be the case that I cherry-picked a proof coin and not a currency strike variety? Usually, it would be easy to distinguish between a proof and a business strike. Still, this matter can be more complicated for specific pieces such as this, which may have been struck using a slightly retouched current die as noted by Peck. Although both the currency strike (KP-22) and the proof strike (KP-17) share Obverse type 4 and reverse type C, there are several main differences between the two. According to peck, KP-17 has a wreath of 11 leaves with two berries. The stem of the upper berry has a distinct stem. He does not provide a plate picture of this; however, searching through auction archives, I was able to find a few examples certified by NGC as either P-1122 or 1123, and the stem is, in fact, very distinct when compared to the business strike. Peck notes that the currency strike only has a trace of the stem previously pointed out on the proof example. I was able to locate several examples of the 11 leaves obverse currency strike in auction archives. All of these examples have a nearly non-existent stem, and more often than not, no trace of the stem can be identified at all. Peck also notes the presence of numerous faint rust spots above the legend on the obverse. This diagnostic is likely what made him conclude that this was a late Soho striking that used a repolished currency die. The coin in question has several areas that can attest to this. Most notably, above the “R” in “GEORGIUS” as well as above “RE” in “REX”. Furthermore, the devices of this coin have the grainy like surface one would expect to find on a bronzed piece. Comparing this piece to the numerous Soho bronzed and Soho copper coins in my collection, it seemed to me that it appeared to be a bronzed piece, which would coincide with P-1122 under the larger umbrella of KP-17 (i.e., the proof coin). I was very excited by this possibility and tried to remain objective. I sent a very detailed email to NGC explaining the situation, and they agreed to review it for FREE! The cost I incurred was the return shipping and a $10 handling fee. This coin made it through the process in 2 days, but I had submitted it with a few other submissions, so I had to wait in agony until the others finished up. I checked the status of my submissions late last week, and they were all marked “finalized, imaged, shipped”. My heart raced a bit as I checked the submission, but there it was labeled as P-1122 Bronzed and graded PF-62 BN. As it turns out, I cherry-picked the coin from an auction house and then cherry-picked it again out of my collection. This marks the second time I have cherry-picked myself this year, so perhaps I need to be more careful on the front end. In this case, buying the coin before the book wasn’t a bad thing, but had I continued to do so, I may have never discovered what this coin actually was. This story goes to show how important it is to fully immerse yourself in the area(s) that you collect to avoid making potentially costly mistakes. To put this in perspective, an example of this same proof variety graded by PCGS as PF-63 BN sold this month at Stacks Bowers for $1320 (with BP) whereas a business strike 11 leaves variety graded PCGS MS-63 BN sold for $432 (with BP) last year.
