The Greysheet lists values for 21 Fugio varieties. I want put a value on mine but don't know how to ID it the way the Greysheet does. It's slabbed as a Newman 4-E. What's the definitive resource for ID'ing it in Greysheet language? Surfing the net leads me to believe my coin is a "1787 Fugio Cinq, UNITED STATES" BN. That would make sense since I was looking for the lowest value varieties when I bought mine. And that variety meets that criterium.
Pics. Please. I have some experience with Fugio's. Check it out>> Fugio Cents - Introduction (nd.edu)
Need an attribution guide? I have one that was copied from another forum. I find it works pretty well and it has images for all but 3 of the rev dies (and the coins with those rev are unique. Two of them are paired with obv's that have other more common rev's, but the ZZ rev is paired with the 23 Obv and that obv isn't paired with anything else.) Drop me a message with your email and I'll send you the file. Let me know if you want it as a Word file or PDF. There may be better guides, but this ones free.
If the greysheet doesn't list the exact variety then I would say it is useless anyway. Every variety has a rarity estimate, 4-E is an R3 variety, or 201 to 500 estimated examples. Another variety with the similar characteristics, if that is the way greysheet does it, could be extremely rare or very common. These have to be valued using the exact variety.
Okay, here are the images. They are large since I suspected that details were important. PCGS calls it a VF-30.
@kanga, I think the label attribution of Newman 4-E is correct. Whitman's Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins lists the 4-E as "Club Rays, Convex Ends, Cinquefoils" obverse. The rarity is listed as URS-10 (250-499 known) which is more or less equivalent to Sheldon R-3. Compare your coin to the Newman 4-E at the attached website and I think you'll agree. http://varslab.com/fugio.html So, if your coin is a 4-E then it's one of the more common ones and I would assume that would reflect on the pricing of the various Greysheet listings and possibly direct your attention to that listing. The Greysheet listing that I think most likely is your coin is called "1787 Fugio Cinq, UNITED STATES BN" which has a value listing in VF-30 of $1280. CDN's CPG retail price guide lists it as $1380.
I think that the Grey Sheet calls it "rounded rays." Although it's a more common variety with an R-3 rating, the Club or Rounded rays brings a premium over many of the Pointed Rays varieties. The Gray Sheet says $1,500 in VF-20 and $2,100 in EF-40. The price would be closer to the $1,500. Here's a Club Rays piece I have owned for many years. NGC called it an AU-50, but the guarantee expired before the last dinosaur died.
There are hidden pictures on this site that I used to make an online attribution guide from. Took me all of 5 minutes, so it's not pretty, but it has all the info. No restrikes, though. http://varslab.com/fugio.html (Edit: I see someone's already linked to my Fugio page. Cool.)
It is a more common variety, but being a club ray variety helps. There are only a few club ray varieties, and many collectors want at least one example as a type coin. It would have a little more value than a pointed ray variety of comparable rarity.
Just got back from a short trip. It'll take me a while to go through all the responses that have been set. I'll do that tomorrow.
I went through all the responses to my post. Thanks for all the links. And thanks for the kudos. At this time, the coin is the oldest in my collection. I was sticking to US Mint products but when PCGS(?) decided the Fugio cent belonged in a US Govt collection because they contracted for this coin, I said "okay".
