I have been moving away from U.S. coins over past couple of years. The grading issues have ruined the market for me, and I would prefer to collect things that I enjoy more. I did decide to assemble a set of Indian Cents from the Civil War era to go along with my Civil War tokens. That invovles a "short set" from 1861 to 1865. I had and 1865 that I bought many years ago that is raw, and that will suffice. I also had an 1863, which is the most common date in the set. I purchased this 1862 cent at the recent FUN show. It is the second most common date in the group, head of only the 1863. This photo makes it look rough, but it is actually lusterous and smooth. The mark in the center, to the right of Ms. Liberty's eye, is raised. It is either a die break or maybe a die scratch. This piece is graded MS-64.
Here are the other coins in the set. 1861 This one grades MS-64 with an Eagle Eye sticker. In the "old days" this was the scarcest date, based on the mintage. 1863 This one is graded MS-64, with no stickers. 1864, Copper-Nickel. Congress changed the compostion of the cent from copper-nickel to bronze and reduced the weight in 1864. The lawmakers took their cue from the copper Civil War tokens which were usualy lighter and accepted as such by the public. These pieces were struck before the new law took effect. This is now viewed as the scarcest major variety among the copper-nickel cents. This coin is graded MS-64 with both the Eagle Eye and CAC stickers. It has some pretty toning which does not show in the photos. Here is the 1864 Bronze. This piece does not have Longacre's "L" initial on the ribbon and is actually a minor type coin. No one recognzies that, however. When I was young collector, I came to the conclusion that this coin is a bit underrated. This one grades MS-65, R&B with no stickers. And here is the 1864-L. Longacre redid his artwork when he added his initial. Note the shape of tip of the bust which is pointed on this piece and rounded on the previous coin. This is one of the semi-keys in the Indian Head Cent series. This one grades MS-64, R&B with no stickers.
And last, and probably least, here is my 1865 cent, which is still raw. Lee surrendered in April 1865. Other Confederate units followed suit within a few weeks or months.
What's more impressive is your research which has gone into assembling a terrific and very consistent set. Well done! Thanks for sharing the knowledge along with them.
Well done, that is a gorgeous and well-matched set. The 1864 bronze is remarkably attractive and my personal favorite of the group...great coins across the board.
