1888 O Scare face plus some things Ive never saw before
joyride
Posts: 2 ✭
Hi, I'm Shawn,
I have this coin My Grandmother give me. she told me it was found during a cave excavation in Utah, The coin was about 1' under the floor of the cave found in the charcoal from a fire long ago. it looks like a scar face 1888 O it has some other marks in front of her face like smoke coming out her mouth, and the F in OF on back is not normal along with the wing tip looks like it has part of the F on it. I understand where it was found and all but if it was hot enough to cause damage why is all the other fine detail of the coin undamaged.
I just wanted some Opinions about the coin, I don't know about coins myself.
Thanks
0
Comments
Looks like she cleaned it after finding it.
Unusual story,
We usually get more grandfather stories.
Welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately, the coin does not match the well known “Scarface” of that date. It looks to be damaged and polished.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Welcome to the forum!
Good chance it was corroded from being in the ground then found and cleaned & polished.
Not the Scarface variety.
Very harshly cleaned and polished. Probably heat damaged at some point in its circulation life, Strictly a cull at this point.
All of the above. Here is a scarface (note the different placement of the scar)
bob
To answer one of your questions. The fire damage was subsequently polished, leaving the coin looking like it does. Enjoy this as a memento of your grandmother.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
These might be damaged enough that they might not even authenticate them.
Welcome to the forum @joyride.
As you carefully look through grandma’s treasure have the Red Book (Coins of the U.S.) handy. If your looking for varieties then the Cherrypickers’ Guide is a good book.
Enjoy! Keep grandma’s treasure safe, dry, fingerprint free (hold by edges), do not clean them, and put them in some type of coin storage to prevent further damage.
Enjoy the search!
@joyride....Welcome aboard....As indicated above, you have a damaged and cleaned coin...no additional numismatic value...Cheers, RickO
Perhaps the original poster was posting in the spirit of Halloween.....
In which case that Morgan is, indeed, a scare face.......
Thanks, and Yeah I cleaned all the burnt caked on stuff off, it was thick. I found out about not cleaning they afterwards.
It will make a cool key chain or something.