Interesting “1856” eagle 1-cent
burfle23
Posts: 2,197 ✭✭✭✭✭
This coin was recently posted on a Dealer’s Face Book page as a contemporary counterfeit. After careful review it was determined to be an altered date 1858- what makes it interesting in my opinion is it reportedly came from a 1994 Stacks Public Auction and was shown in the original sealed flip.
Image of my example compared to a known genuine one (courtesy PCGS):
Several responded to the post that this example shouldn’t have made it into the auction and surely would have been outed by Stacks (which may ultimately have happened) and that it was probably not the original holder.
So, in the interest of odd things and research I purchased it and waited to receive it; in the meantime I sent a note to my friends at Stacks to see if there was any archive info they could share, and Mary there really helped me out with several scans!
The scanned image is obviously low resolution, but the image does appear to match the images of my example including the obverse rim toning. I have actually found a copy of the catalog for sale on line and am waiting to receive it to see if the actual image is better there.
After receipt of the coin it does appear to be the original sealed holder; I intend to bring it to the Baltimore Whitman show in October and get Stacks’ opinion on it.
From the scanned images provided it seems something happened with this example, as the prices realized list shows this one “withdrawn”.
Best, Jack.
Comments
Wrong style lettering for 1856...interesting that it got that far.
Yeah, looks like they screwed the pooch on that one. Probably spotted during lot viewing and withdrawn.
Perhaps they returned it to the consigner in the original flip to show him that it was the same coin he consigned.
Very interesting....nice catch there....some obvious differences in lettering. Cheers, RickO
For this type of fake the "5" in the date is a quick give away. If you draw an imaginary line down from the tip of the hat on the "5", it runs through the bottom of the number on the fake. If it runs parallel, it's one sign that the piece might be good.
Here are a couple of close-ups
Fake
Genuine
wow, that 6 in 1856 is wayyy off. pass
I was able to get a better resolution image scanned from the actual auction catalog and confirmed my example matches the original one.
