I'm Scared As %$#@ of Raw Copper!!

mojorizn

The price discrepancies between RB and full RD, the arbitrary (seems to me) decree that this coin IS RB but this one isn't, know what I'm sayin'?

Surely I'm not the only one with this affliction.

Mojo

nwcs

Not to mention that copper gets messed with by everyone it seems like.

dorkkarl

try this: disregard the slabed grade, & go on gut feeling. if you like the coin enough, BUY IT.

K S

kranky

A couple of years ago I was at a show and a dealer asked me to take a half-dozen raw Unc IHCs to another dealer for a quick unofficial opinion. I didn't study them intensely, but they all looked about the same. The other dealer flipped through them in about a second each - "no good, OK, no good, no good, no good, OK." No good = played with. He obviously could tell in the blink of an eye, but to me they were just various levels of RB.

That kept me from buying raw copper.

mojorizn

It's beyond me! Remember when we were kids shoving pennies into Whitman folders without a second thought? Now if you try to put together a nice matched set of MS Lincolns...forget it! I could take a few years just to track down 20 pennies most would describe as "chestnut", whatever the hell that is.

Mojo

cherrypickincoin

The color of a copper coin is the single most important factor in value. Copper is the most reactive to the environment and will tone more rapidly than any other coin. The difference, for example, between an MS65 BN 1955 Doubled Die and an MS65 RD 1955 Doubled Die is over $15,000! This is with good reason. If you find a copper coin that is full Red that is x number of years old, it is almost certain that someone has taken care of that coin for a long while. You will rarely find any wheats, for example, that are still full red in circulation. It's possible if they've been stashed under other coins or locked away for awhile but not likely. Color is a big deal to me in whether or not I buy copper coins.

291fifth

The collector has to establish HIS/HER OWN standard for what is red or red-brown. Red-brown is almost a meaningless term as it can be a coin with 20% red or 90% red. I recently purchased a NGC MS65RD 1909 Indian Cent at a local show for $140. Two weeks later I sold it for $165. Both prices are far below any current pricing guide. Simply put, the coin was red-brown, not red. I'll bet that coin ends up on eBay soon.

Elcontador

291Fifth brings up a good point.

Standards have changed a great deal re a copper coin's color designation. RB is the most fluid. It used to be that if a coin had 5 - 95% of its original RD, it was slabbed as RB. Speaking re Large & Half Cents, this standard changed (am not sure when). But, you can still find green label & original holdered PCGS old copper slabbed as RB which if submitted today, would be designated BN. Now, you need to have at least 20-25% of original mint RD to get the RB designation.

Also, the services are looser in giving a Large or Half Cent a RD designation. I've seen Large & Half Cents with 85% RD slabbed as RD in the last three years or so.

ElectricEye

I am scared of raw copper too, especially when it is coming at me at 1350 fps with 180 grains of lead behind it.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder or the PCGS holderer...

jcping

Between 1991 and 1992, when I lived in Texas, a friend of mine kept on buying 63BN copper coins (IHC and 2c pieces). He "processed" them and sent to ANACS to get 65RD (or some 66RD) grades. After that, I don't buy any red copper coins even in the PCGS/NGC holders. For raw copper coins, forget about them unless it is brown.