The Best Indian Head Cent Collection I've Seen

Yesterday I was teaching a mini lesson on coin collecting to a girl scout troop. I told them the different types of coins you can collect and what to look for in change, etc. I had a bag of foreign coins and wheat cents which I passed around and they each got to choose one. Hopefully I got some new collectors interested

One of the girls mom's emailed me before the lesson and said their family was given some Indian head pennies and they would like me to look at them. Their daughter brought the collection over and it was a Dancso album filled with every single Indian head cent except for the 1869/69 and the 1886 Var I. Yes, that is including the 1877, 1909 S, and 1908 S. I believe they are genuine but I will post pictures below for you guys to see. Last night I graded each one and put an estimated value based on eBay sold listings. I estimate the entire collection is worth about $2,600. I do these appraisals for free but usually they are very happy with it and give me something in return. (Coins ) But I just do it because I enjoy it

 

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The most valuable coin, the 1877 Indian head cent, I graded at VF30 and I believe it is genuine. On the reverse of genuine 1877 Indian head cents, the bottom right of the N in “ONE” and the top left of the N in “CENT” is less prominent. This is shown in your coin. It weighs 2.97 g and a typical Indian head cent weighs 3.11 g so I think it is within tolerance.

 

That 1877 is quite the character,has most of the diamonds left and even liberty is showing!!!!I see no reason to believe its fake.

 

Amazing collection to have and have no idea about

 

Thank you! The pictures doesn't really do it justice. The feathers are a lot nicer in person. I was so surprised when I saw the 1877 along with the 1909 S.

 

I'm returning it to them today, I hope they will be happy to learn the collection is worth this much.

 

Wow. Nice set. Spurs me to go look at the almost (34/35) complete Franklin book I won this past Dec at an online auction @$245. Only popped open to make sure they were all there, and a cursory look that the 'correct' coins were in the 'correct' slots.

 

Perhaps give them a 'buy' price.

So they won't be as disappointed when they try to sell it.

 

What a wonderful collection. I wonder what the history of them having that collection is? Maybe you can get the story from them and post it so we can know.

 

Nice job, young man. Job well done

 

On the few occasions where I've been asked to assess someone's grandfather's collection, I always give them the "retail/wholesale" spiel. And if it's junk silver or super common older coins, I also tell them that old does not mean valuable and why. They need to know that dealers are absolutely awash in F-15 1936 Lincoln cents and really don't want them.

But the OP ran into the highly unusual and very gratifying occasion of a genuinely nice and valuable collection with those IHCs.

 

I’m not 100% sure the story but I’ll ask them when I return the coins to them today. I’ll let you guys know

 

Thanks.

 

Does anyone else think its a bit suspicious that the 77 and 09-S have very similar looks to them and appear to be in better condition than most of the rest of the set? I mean it's possible but surprising. You'd expect the 1890 to be at least equal or better than the 77 as an example.
They may be worth sending in to a TPG. Would get more (the proper value) for them in a slab if authentic.

 

Very nice opportunity @Matthew Kruse
You did nice by them. Hopefully you'll come back with a good back story on the collection.

 

The two actually aren’t in better condition than the rest of the set. A lot of the common dates are actually in XF-AU condition. It also could be possible that the person who assembled this bought nice examples of the most expensive ones on purpose but I’m not sure. In the write-up I did for them, I said it would be worth it to send off the 1877 and 1909S to a grading company for authentication but at the end of the day, it’s not my call. I’ve steered them in the right direction and that’s all I can really do. In my opinion, they are authentic but I’m not an expert by any means. I appreciate your input though.

 

@Mountain Man and anyone else wondering the story behind the collection:

There is a guy who works at his parents restaurant on Catalina Island. Apparently, he would fill the album whenever he came across an Indian head penny. He gave the collection to the people I appraised it for. It’s really unlikely that he came across these in circulation but it sounds like he traded people for them. (Probably more so for the key dates)

 

The 1877 has a sharpness grade of Fine by today’s standards, but it appears to have been cleaned. That will lower the value by a significant amount. The coin does appear to be genuine, but you need an expert to see it in person.

 

The 1886 variety 2 is a British coin. I think the 3 money coins look way different an are suspect. The 77 reverse should have a die clash as well.