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Message:: [QUOTE="fiddlehead, post: 2318158, member: 31286"]I've been collecting mid-19th century US coins for a while now, but I only recently decided to find a large cent - I need it to be an 1840 because that's a date I've been collecting.  I'm not concerned about getting a high grade coin, but I wanted one with good details and an interesting look to it.  I bought this recently from a well known dealer  - didn't spend a lot of money on it - to me, judging by the pictures it has really nice details for the grade (PCGS XF40).  In my comparative research, it seems to be a pretty good representation of what the coin should look like.  That said, I see that it has a considerable amount of green oxidation around the devices - could that be why it's an xf40 rather than a 45 or 50 given the nice level of detail remaining?  This is fine with me if the coin is likely to be stable - as old as it is, I would tend to think it should be ok, but I know next to nothing about copper coins.  So, what do you think?  Is it likely to remain as it is in the holder - or could it deteriorate quickly?  No guarantees expected (and the investment isn't huge) but what should/could I expect.  I am not committed to keeping it yet. Thanks in advance for any enlightenment offered. [ATTACH=full]468061[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]