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GTG, Large Cent - Grade shown in first post

Walkerguy21DWalkerguy21D Posts: 12,067 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited May 31, 2026 5:09AM in U.S. Coin Forum

1843 was a transitional year for the “Late Date” Braided Hair Large Cents. The year started with the continuation of the Petite Head obverse, and the small lettered reverse, as introduced in late 1839.
Part way during the year, the new large lettered reverse was introduced, keeping the same obverse. Then later in the year, this reverse was paired with the new Mature Head version of the Braided Hair cent.
The Mature Head with the large lettered reverse was then used for the duration of the large cent series, which ended in 1857.
Here is my example of the Mature Head, large letters cent, a Redbook variety. It was acquired raw from Chris Victor-McCawley quite a few years ago, and submitted by me to PCGS. Feel free to guess the grade!



Successful BST transactions with 177 members. breakdown, scotty1419, mattniss, bigjpst, onlyroosies, Manorcourtman, guitarwes, Ebeneezer, Tonedeaf, Shane6596, Piano1, Ikenefic, RG, PCGSPhoto, stman, Don'tTelltheWife, Boosibri, Ron1968, snowequities, VTchaser, jrt103, SurfinxHI, 78saen, bp777, FHC, RYK, JTHawaii, Opportunity, Kliao, bigtime36, skanderbeg, split37, thebigeng, acloco, Toninginthblood, OKCC, braddick, Coinflip, robcool, fastfreddie, tightbudget, DBSTrader2, nickelsciolist, relaxn, Eagle eye, soldi, silverman68, ElKevvo, sawyerjosh, Schmitz7, talkingwalnut2, konsole, sharkman987, sniocsu, comma, jesbroken, David1234, biosolar, Sullykerry, Moldnut, erwindoc, MichaelDixon, GotTheBug

Comments

  • coinbufcoinbuf Posts: 12,406 ✭✭✭✭✭

    AU50

    My Lincoln Registry
    My Collection of Old Holders

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  • jfriedm56jfriedm56 Posts: 2,952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Lovely chocolate brown specimen. I may be way off, but I’m in the MS63/64 camp. So my guess would be MS63 Brown. Wouldn’t be surprised at 64.

  • relicsncoinsrelicsncoins Posts: 8,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'll go 62BN.

    Need a Barber Half with ANACS photo certificate. If you have one for sale please PM me. Current Ebay auctions
  • Morgan13Morgan13 Posts: 2,403 ✭✭✭✭✭

    MS64BN

    Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
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  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 31,889 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Ms 63

  • The_Dinosaur_ManThe_Dinosaur_Man Posts: 1,483 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nice piece, and a tough GTG for me. My first thought tells me AU, but I can see it being a 64.

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  • Walkerguy21DWalkerguy21D Posts: 12,067 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @The_Dinosaur_Man said:
    Nice piece, and a tough GTG for me. My first thought tells me AU, but I can see it being a 64.

    I agree, it’s even tough in hand to evaluate.
    I took a number of photos with different lighting, etc to capture it as best I could.

    Successful BST transactions with 177 members. breakdown, scotty1419, mattniss, bigjpst, onlyroosies, Manorcourtman, guitarwes, Ebeneezer, Tonedeaf, Shane6596, Piano1, Ikenefic, RG, PCGSPhoto, stman, Don'tTelltheWife, Boosibri, Ron1968, snowequities, VTchaser, jrt103, SurfinxHI, 78saen, bp777, FHC, RYK, JTHawaii, Opportunity, Kliao, bigtime36, skanderbeg, split37, thebigeng, acloco, Toninginthblood, OKCC, braddick, Coinflip, robcool, fastfreddie, tightbudget, DBSTrader2, nickelsciolist, relaxn, Eagle eye, soldi, silverman68, ElKevvo, sawyerjosh, Schmitz7, talkingwalnut2, konsole, sharkman987, sniocsu, comma, jesbroken, David1234, biosolar, Sullykerry, Moldnut, erwindoc, MichaelDixon, GotTheBug
  • pursuitoflibertypursuitofliberty Posts: 7,795 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I agree with the tough GTG. I'm going to go with MS62, which may seem odd, but it's what seems to fit, at least from what I see in the images.


    “We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”

    Todd - BHNC #242
  • MFeldMFeld Posts: 16,513 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The coin looks cleaned to me but I’ll guess the grade to be 62BN.

    Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.

  • Cougar1978Cougar1978 Posts: 9,688 ✭✭✭✭✭

    MS63 BN

    Investor
  • ashelandasheland Posts: 24,391 ✭✭✭✭✭

    MS 63 brown. I love that type.

  • MsMorrisineMsMorrisine Posts: 39,147 ✭✭✭✭✭

    MS something BN

    Current maintainer of Stone's Master List of Favorite Websites // My BST transactions
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 47,481 ✭✭✭✭✭

    AU58

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  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 35,727 ✭✭✭✭✭

    MS-63, Brown

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • Walkerguy21DWalkerguy21D Posts: 12,067 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 31, 2026 5:30AM

    @MFeld said:
    The coin looks cleaned to me but I’ll guess the grade to be 62BN.

    I think you nailed it on all counts, Mr. Feld.

    I think the obverse was likely cleaned and was either retoned or expertly recolored. I acquired the coin early in my copper collecting days, when I was working on getting all the major transitional varieties from 1835-1843, as an offshoot to my 7070 project. I was less discerning about color, and focused on wear and marks.
    That said, I’m pleased PCGS straight graded it. This variety is fairly scarce above XF, with only ~30 graded higher than 62, and auction appearances sparse.
    The coin shows no wear and is virtually mark-free, but the lack of luster and obverse color keeps it from grading higher, so 62 seems appropriate imo. I don’t know if it would straight grade nowadays, as I feel PCGS has gotten tougher on copper.

    Successful BST transactions with 177 members. breakdown, scotty1419, mattniss, bigjpst, onlyroosies, Manorcourtman, guitarwes, Ebeneezer, Tonedeaf, Shane6596, Piano1, Ikenefic, RG, PCGSPhoto, stman, Don'tTelltheWife, Boosibri, Ron1968, snowequities, VTchaser, jrt103, SurfinxHI, 78saen, bp777, FHC, RYK, JTHawaii, Opportunity, Kliao, bigtime36, skanderbeg, split37, thebigeng, acloco, Toninginthblood, OKCC, braddick, Coinflip, robcool, fastfreddie, tightbudget, DBSTrader2, nickelsciolist, relaxn, Eagle eye, soldi, silverman68, ElKevvo, sawyerjosh, Schmitz7, talkingwalnut2, konsole, sharkman987, sniocsu, comma, jesbroken, David1234, biosolar, Sullykerry, Moldnut, erwindoc, MichaelDixon, GotTheBug
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 35,727 ✭✭✭✭✭

    This one is graded MS-62, Brown CAC. It's part of the one cent per year set I formed a couple of years ago. I paid a high price for this, so it should look nice.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • jedmjedm Posts: 3,238 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I was late to the game, but before seeing the grade I guessed it to be AU58.

  • pursuitoflibertypursuitofliberty Posts: 7,795 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Walkerguy21D said:

    @MFeld said:
    The coin looks cleaned to me but I’ll guess the grade to be 62BN.

    I think you nailed it on all counts, Mr. Feld.

    I think the obverse was likely cleaned and was either retoned or expertly recolored. I acquired the coin early in my copper collecting days, when I was working on getting all the major transitional varieties from 1835-1843, as an offshoot to my 7070 project. I was less discerning about color, and focused on wear and marks.
    That said, I’m pleased PCGS straight graded it. This variety is fairly scarce above XF, with only ~30 graded higher than 62, and auction appearances sparse.
    The coin shows no wear and is virtually mark-free, but the lack of luster and obverse color keeps it from grading higher, so 62 seems appropriate imo. I don’t know if it would straight grade nowadays, as I feel PCGS has gotten tougher on copper.

    I didn't really want to elaborate with why I called it a 62 for fear of sounding negative (I'm not, I rather like the coin overall) ... but I really appreciate your follow-up info here. I suppose I read the images right, or at least the same as PCGS, and you too.


    “We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”

    Todd - BHNC #242
  • Walkerguy21DWalkerguy21D Posts: 12,067 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 1, 2026 5:39AM

    @pursuitofliberty said:

    @Walkerguy21D said:

    @MFeld said:
    The coin looks cleaned to me but I’ll guess the grade to be 62BN.

    I think you nailed it on all counts, Mr. Feld.

    I think the obverse was likely cleaned and was either retoned or expertly recolored. I acquired the coin early in my copper collecting days, when I was working on getting all the major transitional varieties from 1835-1843, as an offshoot to my 7070 project. I was less discerning about color, and focused on wear and marks.
    That said, I’m pleased PCGS straight graded it. This variety is fairly scarce above XF, with only ~30 graded higher than 62, and auction appearances sparse.
    The coin shows no wear and is virtually mark-free, but the lack of luster and obverse color keeps it from grading higher, so 62 seems appropriate imo. I don’t know if it would straight grade nowadays, as I feel PCGS has gotten tougher on copper.

    I didn't really want to elaborate with why I called it a 62 for fear of sounding negative (I'm not, I rather like the coin overall) ... but I really appreciate your follow-up info here. I suppose I read the images right, or at least the same as PCGS, and you too.

    Thanks, yes, I saw your 62 guess as well, and you were probably along the same lines as Mark, who is generally pretty blunt lol!
    Frankly with this crowd I’m surprised no one guessed Details.

    It certainly wouldn’t win any beauty contests, and most folks are used to seeing these later dates in pristine condition with frosty surfaces and traces of red. I have those too, for the common dates/varieties, but this is a different animal. Despite its issues, it would still likely cost me 3x what I paid for it years ago, in today’s market.

    Here’s my example of the “common” 1843 variety; maybe someday I’ll do a GTG with this one:

    Successful BST transactions with 177 members. breakdown, scotty1419, mattniss, bigjpst, onlyroosies, Manorcourtman, guitarwes, Ebeneezer, Tonedeaf, Shane6596, Piano1, Ikenefic, RG, PCGSPhoto, stman, Don'tTelltheWife, Boosibri, Ron1968, snowequities, VTchaser, jrt103, SurfinxHI, 78saen, bp777, FHC, RYK, JTHawaii, Opportunity, Kliao, bigtime36, skanderbeg, split37, thebigeng, acloco, Toninginthblood, OKCC, braddick, Coinflip, robcool, fastfreddie, tightbudget, DBSTrader2, nickelsciolist, relaxn, Eagle eye, soldi, silverman68, ElKevvo, sawyerjosh, Schmitz7, talkingwalnut2, konsole, sharkman987, sniocsu, comma, jesbroken, David1234, biosolar, Sullykerry, Moldnut, erwindoc, MichaelDixon, GotTheBug

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