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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Catbert, post: 834891, member: 12718&quot;]Well, pics are tough to really get a sense, but I like that 1814.&nbsp; These are hard to come by without some nicking.&nbsp; Nice coin!&nbsp; :thumb:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Finding choice specimens for this series (1808-14) represents quite a challenge for collectors. During this era the US Mint received all their copper planchets from the firm of Mathew Boulton in Soho-Birmingham, England. Boulton’s reputation as a manufacturer of copper planchets was highly regarded. Despite this, most of the copper blanks used to strike the cents suffered corrosive damage as a result of being stored in the damp holds of ships crossing the Atlantic. This would account for the often poor quality of many of these coins. As relations between the two countries deteriorated in 1812, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Mint Director Patterson to obtain new orders from Boulton and once the War of 1812 had begun, all shipment of copper blanks ceased. So, despite the beauty of Reich’s Classic Head design, it has been difficult to find chocolate-brown specimens free of porosity or granulation. Many Classic Heads appear black while others surface with a surfeit of problems such as verdigris, scratches or scrapes; occasionally rim nicks along with attempts at enhancement that may include buffing, polishing, re-coloring or retooling the design elements. According to numismatic scholar Robert W. Julian, a large percentage of these cents were paid out in salaries to Mint employees.&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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