Chain Cents are cool. I wish I had one!

braddick

I don't, so in the meantime, please allow me to live vicariously through you.
Show me yours!

FullStrike

I would classify most Chain Cent owners as "1%'ers". You need lots of Cash to own one.

I just got a Chain Cent Token recently. I'm certainly not a member of the 1 % elite. My Token is 1 of 100 so I suppose you could say I got 1% of the Chain Token Production.

You are the lucky winner of today's 1% 'er Club. PM me a shipping address and I'll put you in the Club with your very own Limited 1993 Chain Token.

I'm so impressed with mine I got it as my Avatar. 😁

BryceM

They are cool, but not all that cool until you get to F12 or so. Some coins are nice enough all the way down to VG. The chain cent is not one of these. The ones I could possibly afford are therefore not cool.

So, that spot remains a big blank in my type set.

Aotearoa

@BryceM said:
They are cool, but not all that cool until you get to F12 or so. Some coins are nice enough all the way down to VG. The chain cent is not one of these. The ones I could possibly afford are therefore not cool.

So, that spot remains a big blank in my type set.

My first thought upon reading your comment was, "Ha. What a chucklehead! Of course Chain Cents are cool at all grade levels!". Then I looked at some lower grade examples. You know what? You just may be right. There isn't much there to appreciate below F12 or so... My apologies for calling you a chucklehead in my mind!

BryceM

I've been called worse, and I'm only speaking of the last hour or so here at work.......

mustangmanbob

They are cool down through AG if you appreciate how much they circulated, how much they bought, and how unusual that they survived being lost or melted.

PocketArt

I don't have one...I've been trying to help, an older collector friend find one, that at least has a full date. We passed up the last Heritage offering...he didn't see it worth more than $1,800. It had a nice date, sold cheap, but he didn't like it. I don't know if I would have settled either...I'd want less porosity on coin; yet, these don't grow on trees...coin sold $2,640.00 with juice.

https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path[2/0/8/9/6/20896068],sizedata[850x600]&call=url[file:product.chain]

https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path[2/0/8/9/6/20896069],sizedata[850x600]&call=url[file:product.chain]

Good solid coin anyways for money. However; there are many with the chain...lacking the date...IDK...I agree with my 78 year old friend. Need the date, and as problem free as possible.

FullStrike

I watched this Chain Cent end yesterday

1793 Chain Cent AMERICA PCGS XF-40 CAC
From the Edgemont Collection of U.S. Type Coins.
Bid history:53 bids (view)Time left:Ended
(Sun, Jun 09, 2019 04:06:16 PM Pacific Time)

On Great Collections

It was nice enough but at $55,000 it was not in my reach at all.

The Copper "Grove Minting Company " Token I got recently is good enough for my purposes. Beats the heck out of a Photograph.

topstuf

I had one. Low grade. Don't miss it. Well, kinda. But ...IF... I get another it will be higher grade.

Icollecteverything

I think the coolest thing would be if you found one, like in an old building or metal detecting. Then the grade wouldn't matter.

braddick

My only... carried this Gallery Mint replica as a pocket piece for many years.

cardinal

This thread is worthless without pictures! So, I just took a couple pictures:

Justacommeman

@topstuf said:
I had one. Low grade. Don't miss it. Well, kinda.

Was that a pocket change find back in the day?

m

BryceM

@cardinal does not fail to deliver. One like that, yeah, that would do.

lkenefic

I completely understand Bryce's logic on this. I've looked at P01 to AG3 pieces just to have one... but, why? As a type collector I'm drawn to the design elements of a coin. One of these low end pieces was completely worn off on the obverse and had maybe 2 or 3 links on the reverse to be able to identify it as a legit Chain Cent... I'm sure it made someone happy... I'm equally happy it's not me!

BryceM

Here are the photos for the coin referenced by @PocketArt above. He says this coin sold for $2640. It's in an NCS "Corroded, Fine details holder." Edited to fix excessive harshness on my part: It’s not a coin I’d want to own, but if it comes right down to it, Lance below is correct..... there aren’t that many to go around.

photo credit goes to HA.

lkeigwin

I have a FR2. It doesn't deserve an appearance here.

But I have one and I'm okay with it. There aren't many to go around.
Lance.

ifthevamzarockin

My proof deep cameo.

topstuf

@Justacommeman said:

@topstuf said:
I had one. Low grade. Don't miss it. Well, kinda.

Was that a pocket change find back in the day?

m

You should remember. It was what you paid me to mow your lawn.

HoledandCreative

I am very happy with mine and glad to show them. It takes a long time to find the one you want for your collection. My first one is by Brasher's brother, maybe. The second may have been just a toy, although the holes are probably too distant.

axelrich

@ifthevamzarockin said:
My proof deep cameo.

That's a one fine piece..

braddick

I like the way COPY was blended into the chain itself. Less intrusive.

ArizonaRareCoins

Here's mine, in a VF details holder:

Walkerguy21D

The closest I've ever come was buying an AG/G about 10 years ago.
I got 'first shot' at anything I wanted from a complete collection that a dealer friend acquired from an old estate locked away since the mid-sixties. The chain cent had nice details and a clean light brown planchet, but no date. He came down to $1800 but I still passed, as I really wanted at least a partial date.
I did acquire the '93 Lib Cap (and later sold, way too cheap), the damaged '99 later proven to be a very good fake that fooled a number of EAC guys (I was refunded my money, so that was good), and about 15 other pieces all at very good prices, including a nice VF '39/6 that the profit from the Lib Cap paid for.

shorecoll

I'm old enough to remember when AG 93s were sub-$1000 and I wish I had bought a few. I've said it before, I had an AG 99 that the next guy got into a VG-8 holder, every EAC person I showed it to agreed it was an AG but had nearly a full date.

ricko

I am still hoping to find one while metal detecting... My area goes way back...pre-colonial even.... so, it is possible that one could turn up around an old foundation or field...Cheers, RickO

lkenefic

EAC grading vs. PCGS grading notwithstanding, my bar for this date is a somewhat readable date and enough detail left to identify it readily. I can live with a certain amount of corrosion or planchet flaws... it comes with the territory. That said, and as others have intimated, these pieces don't come around that often in any condition!

Maybe I need to either pick up metal detecting, or hit the lottery!

Catbert

Hey, I own a chain copper.............

Seriously, they are way too pricey for my budget.

@Walkerguy21D - I think I'd have remorse not jumping on that that first shot clean light brown no date coin.

1northcoin

I have a few in varying grades. Definitely an historic coin which adds to its mystique, at least for me.

Walkerguy21D

@Walkerguy21D - I think I'd have remorse not jumping on that that first shot clean light brown no date coin.

You bet I do.....especially after finding the '99 to be altered, since it sort of came down to getting one or the other - gah! Now I still need both.

asheland

I'd love to own one someday...

coinnut

This one resides in my Library of Coins type set album.

abcde12345

Near perfect! That rim bump doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Dave99B

Mine... heavily circulated example, but still quite sexy, IMO. A few digs here and there just give it more character.
Nice chocolate brown planchet. Picked her up 23 years ago, based on the surfaces alone. There are some pretty ugly Chains floating around out there.

I've owned two in my life. The other (an ANACS P01) was pretty much a slug, which I sold. Still a very neat piece. Love these old war horses.

My general requirements on low-end Chain cents are:

1) Non-porous as possible
2) Bold date
3) Bold chain

Have fun,
Dave

Aotearoa

That's a very nice G4.

BillJones

I bought this one, an S-4, in the late 1980s. It has good color and surfaces except for the mark across the obverse. NGC over graded it VF-30, but since I've seen other VFs, that seems to be the market grade. The dealer who sold it to me, via a bid wall auction, graded it Fine-15/VF-20. The mark at the lower left obverse is a die break, and I think the sideways "Y" on the right is a struck-though.

This is the second Chain I have owned. The first one was a Chain AMERI., but it was only a Fair with AMERI. part visible, but not sharp. The obverse had had some tooling to make the date sharper. I bought it Gimbels Department Store circa 1970 and sold it about 5 years later at an EAC convention, my first. I got $450, but a couple of dealers told me I should have gotten more because it changed hands at the show a couple of times after I let it go.

I some ways I wish I still had the AMERI. because it would have been a piece of copper from the mint's earliest days, but it was a motely coin.

ReadyFireAim

...And we need a link...
21 for sale now....
https://www.collectors.com/setmatch/setmatchdetail?compitemid=23864&itemtypeid=1&compid=763&exactmatch=True&hidenomatch=False&hidehascurrentitem=False&days=Any&lowgrade=Any&highgrade=Any&lowprice=Any&highprice=Any&sellerexclude=false
I like this one for only $40,000