A copper for tonelovers

shylock

Just had an 1859 Indian Head cent sent to me that bowled me over. My original interest was the variety (1859/1859 RPD S-1) but it took me a while to even look at the date.

The fields are prooflike, with the obverse having a base of copper-nickel white gold with faint violet in the left field and gold toning towards the right rim. The reverse is just amazing for an MS IH, something you'd only expect on a proof:

obverse 1
obverse 2
obverse 3
reverse 1
reverse 2
Almost forgot the RPD.

The most surprising thing about it is the grade. It sold dirt cheap at a recent auction and I have to admit I was ready to be very critical when it arrived due to his big markup. I just emailed a gushy thank you. Just goes to show...

IrishMike

Doesn't it just go to showThis coin has all kinds of character going for it. Coincidently I have my eye on some IHC's in ANACS slabs. There are some really nice coins in those slabs. I really like this coin.

Elcontador

D***it Paul!

I'm trying to be happy with my 09 MS 65 RD IH Cent for my type set and you keep showing images that make me want to buy more of them!

A 3 or 4 for the first coin looks about right to me, though I love its color. I see some nicks on the Indian's cheek, some feather tips aren't fully struck & several of the diamonds also look weakly struck. Does look PL, though.

jom

Shy: That just ticks me off! Slime-bag!

OK...soooo....how much you want for it? lol

jom

PS: What auction did you buy it in?

LanLord

That is an incredible coin, sure looks nicer than ms63 to me. Nice purchase.

shylock

Jom -- The dealer nabbed it at auction, pretty much unopposed. I think most of the IH buyers were still recouping from June LB or looking for registry coins.

I never noticed the S-1 when I browsed the Heritage lots (here's the coin). And I didn't even bother clicking on an ANACS MS63 -- lesson number one: look at every coin.

I found it in the archive only after I asked the dealer to send it for a look. I almost asked him to forget it after I realized the markup -- lesson number two: don't judge a coin by it's auction price/slab/grade/image.

I'm sure this dealer would have bid quite a bit more if he had to, and the Heritage image doesn't do the coin justice so he had every edge vs. an internet bidder. I'm just happy to have wound up with it. I can't see ever upgrading it, as Mike said it has a lot going for it in that tiny ANACS slab.

DHeath

Paul,

The color is so nice on #1 that it almost looks like tooled leather. Nothing looks quite like old coppers.

IrishMike

I remember that coin from the sale, I didn' know it was the same one. I wondered why it brought such a nice price, now I know why. Thanks for the post and doesn't it look neat in those little slabs.


PS: I was guilty at overlooking those slabs too, till I saw some two weeks ago at a local show.

shylock

Mike -- It did sell for a healthy price. When I say "dirt cheap" I meant relative to it's true grade and eye appeal, especially when you consider the huge premiums beautifully toned silver goes for.

The dealer mentioned ANACS has been pretty strict lately.

michael

wow that is a great coin! the eye appeal is incredible with exceptional fantastic toning and 64/65


sincerely michael

jamesfsm

I have bought a few ANACS coins lately and I like this one too.

Your coin was just recently slabbed by ANACS./ An old collection just hitting the market??

Gemini

I especially like those early copper-nickel Indians and thats a beauty Paul.

BigD5

That sure is a purty IHC. For a C/N cent, it looks undergraded from the scan. What could be the reason for the 63 grade? The strike seems strong enough to warrant a higher grade, although not outstanding, and the eye appeal is obviously there. How's the luster? Looks very nice.
As far as ANACS, I just received approx. 30 coins back, and they are as strict as always, which, for me has been decent. The only tendency I see is to give an extra 5 points on some coins, and take 5 points from other coins. Sometimes I scratch my head with that a bit. Fairly accurate to my eye, and of course, a couple of net grades on seemingly problem free coins Overall, I've been very happy with anacs for the last couple of years.

shylock

BigD5 -- the images are tough to grade since I had to use angles to capture the toning. Jeff (Elcontador) is right about some tics on the cheek, however the diamonds are all there as are the feathers, rare on any copper-nick where even ultra high grades often are weak on the tips.

Overall it has the look of a 66, but I believe was seriously downgraded due to a hairline planchet crack along the upper obverse rim from 11 to 1 o'clock, at some places opening up and deforming the denticles. Very unobtrusive to the naked eye but very obvious under glass, and I guess ANACS grades as technically strict as anyone. I owned a decent PCGS MS65 of this date and this one is in a different class as far as eye appeal goes, and in most of the technical points as well.

1907Quarter

Cool, way cool!