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I've had a few of those days. Keep plugging away.

 

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Upon closer examination, I still can't say definitively what the cause of the "pitting" is. No evidence of bulging from a punch or drill on the reverse side, no evidence of detail in the "pitting" area to indicate strike-throughs and I'm not really sure what to look for to indicate a planchet flaw. I'll just have to settle on a S-85 with problems.

 

This is a new rabbit trail. It is a dateless classic head with a reverse having enough detail that it should be attributable.

But a quick once over of all the reverses against my Noyes photos has not shown a reverse with leaves as far left relative to the letters as this one. I snapped it up just in case it turns out to be special. I don't have comps on my computer for the Classic Heads so I may find it on the second go around.

 

It looks like the reverse positions shifted with matron heads in the 20s and this follows that grouping, so it looks like it's a middle date rather than a classic.

 

I still have no idea on this edge. The variety seems readily identifiable, but the sub-variety doesn't seem to fit either the beaded (plain) edge or the gripped edge.

No one seems to have continued work on the various edges described by Breen for 97 and 98 Cent edges. I tentatively identified it as a partially reeded edge from the description, but I can find no comparisons and his speculation is that this edge was used late in 97, not early.

I think I may have speculated on this before, but I have new photos from my current project photographing all my Large Cent Collection.


This is a photo showing as much detail as I can get.



Anybody have any thoughts or know anybody with nice edge shots?

 

It looks like gripping to me

 

I have this attributed to my satisfaction. It will probably give @Marshall a run for his money.

 

I'm afraid you have me on this one. Unless that's a crack from just below the lips to the rim, I don't see anything that I could hang my hat on. But I can't tell whether it's a crack or a scratch. The only thing close to me is S-239 and that's mostly imagination rather than concrete attribution.

 

The last two digits in the date have rounded tops, which means it could only be 1796, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1802, and 1806. The last digit honestly looks like a 6, but there is too much wear and pitting to be certain.



The reverse is where the key lies. My first impression was that it was reverse of 1794 due to the squashed bows. Couple that with the 6 I thought I saw, I thought S-109 looked pretty close, which is what I thought it was when I posted last night. However, I looked at it again a bit later, and I didn’t see any trace of CENT in the middle of the wreath, which is where it would be if it was reverse of 1794. That suggests that it might be reverse of 1797.

I can barely make out the outlines of OF, and I can clearly see the outlines of AMERI. The thing that instantly drew my eye was how close the leaf was to the base of the F. I just looked through all of the reverse dies for the draped bust cents, and the only one that I found that was remotely similar was 1798 reverse D (S-147, R.5). However, the relationships between the leaves and M and R appear different, but this could be distortions caused by wear and pitting.

Could this be an undiscovered die?

 

The leaf under M is in the wrong place for S-146 and the leaf under F is in the wrong place for S-147. The stems seem short for most of the 1798s. The exact reverse of 1799s have the wrong leaf positions as well with the leaf tip half way between F A which is why I moved into the 1802/1803 groups after the Hub Die experiment had ended. A few are close, but none seem to cover all the bases. But unfortunately, at least some of the diagnostics are probably PMD and not truly die related.

 

I checked the 1806 and the obverse looked possible, but the reverse is way off with much wider spacing at F A.

 

I could barely make out the E in LIBERTY, and it is over a wave of hair. That further rules out S-147

 

S-140, but what does it grade?

 

The grade will be high enough that I could see anything from XF to MS depending on luster and surfaces which are difficult to see in photos. EAC will not deduct for the swelling at the Bust or weakness at OF since it is Die State related as either the Terminal Die State or just short of it. But TPGs many times deduct for die state swelling and weakness so this might be a case where EAC and TPG market grading converge.

I don't see wear at all, even on the high points nor any marks. If it isn't dropped to get a straight grade for possible surface issues, I can envision low MS either with or without a details designation. I think this is one that needs to be seen in the copper.

 

I'd make sure it is brushed and perhaps soaked in distilled water to see if the scatter around the portrait and devices are dirt or corrosion. This should be done carefully to avoid the appearance of tooling or smoothing.

I'd probably use a touch of my last remaining Blue Star on it as a solvent and preservative.

 

I need a brush. And I'd love some blue star, but I can't afford it.

 

This is my recent flyer on an 1801. All i can really see is the pointed 1 and the loop under the bust and strength at the inside double leaves under D S. Initially the pointed 1 and long loop made me think NC-4 as a possibility, but the most interesting feature right now is the double leaf on the reverse. It's strength makes the lack of a match with any of my 1801 comps my new focus.

The first images are the seller's photos and the last images are enhancements for proper rotation and enhanced contrast for ID.

 

I see an EDS S-213

 

While it appears to be the closest match, the right stem appears to be closer to the lowest leaves and pointed toward the center left of the A rather than the center right. The stem at the double leaves appears to be shorter. But the vine does appear to have the sharper bend there.

I'll wait to see if the berry at ONR shows a little better since Reverse A has a close to fallen berry shape stem and what I think I see is more parallel to the edge of the leaf. But it is fuzzy.

If it does turn out to be an early S-213, it will share it's spot in my collection with a couple of early die states (II) and (III). But if the berry stem at O excludes reverse A, the hunt is on.

 

This new arrival appears to be an 1797 S-121a large cent in Breen Die State I with a perfect die. The top serif of the B seems to have not yet disappeared. There are two distinct elevations, which suggests that the B punch’s top serif had been chipped prior to use. This makes sense as multiple other 1797 dies have a defective B. Looking at the edge, I see no evidence of gripping.

What do you all think?