Thoughts on this 1798 LC...

lkenefic

I'm looking at an auction on ebay:

Link...sorry 'bout that...

Hmmmm...pics didn't upload...Leo

DickyBetz

rsdoug81

The porosity appears to be less than what is typical of early large cents on ebay. The surfaces appear to be above average. It looks to be a decent coin, imo.

fc

i would say pass.
why does the obverse look like it was coated with something
once upon a time?

i understand it must be a tough coin, being so old, but it
did not appeal to me.

SamByrd

I think cleaned and poor attempt to recolor, but not at all a bad coin. It seems to be at about its worth already though, you can do better imo.

rsdoug81

<< <i>I think cleaned and poor attempt to recolor, but not at all a bad coin. It seems to be at about its worth already though, you can do better imo. >>



I agree...okay surfaces, but the price is getting a little out of hand.

Coin Finder

This looks burnished to me. An attempt to get rid or the porosity. I would pass.

LeeG

<< <i>poor attempt to recolor >>




I'd pass for a nicer example.

291fifth

Hard to make a call. The photo seems to be overexposed.

rhedden

R4 die variety, condition census lists only 12 coins above F-12, and books at $1,000 in F-12 in Penny Prices.

lkenefic

Thanks for all of your help on this... I really appreciate it. I think I'll pass this one up.

Best Regards,

Leo

millennium

It without a doubt has been re-colored and they didn't even wait for it to dry, before touching it....leaving a fingerprint on the coin at 10 o'clock...

1798CentCollector

The cent does look to be recolored. Description also mentions porosity. If you give it a sharpness grade of F12 or F15 and net it down for the problems it probably will come out at an EAC Grade of VG8. The S-176 is a difficult coin to find decent. Looks to be an early die state. Early copper is notoriously bad to photograph and I would recommend seeing "a coin in the copper" at a show or on approval before you purchase - unless it's a coin you have seen before or you are cherrypicking a very rare variety.

rhedden

Don't look now, but this coin closed at $481.00. It seems like any very scarce to rare 1790's Sheldon variety will bring strong money, even with problems. I doubt the winning bidder will even care if it was recolored or not.

There was a time not too long ago when you'd show an R4 coin to another collector or a dealer, and they'd question whether it was worth a 10% premium over an R1.

1798CentCollector

Wow ! Interesting. A nice S-176 has a legitimate claim to some money. Even in R4 good examples are conditionally rare, they don't come nice either. There's one average plus (very nice) coin in the top 25, with most being average minus (below average or problem coins) The 2nd higest graded (by EAC standards) is only a net 30 coin. By the time you get down to the number 14 and 15 coins you are in net VG territory. Penny Prices list a net VG at $500. Unfortunately, the problem here, in my opinon, is not only the the porosity, but primarily the apparent (or what appears to be) recoloring which makes the coin look like it was dipped in bosco or dark maple syrup. This is a real detractor.

Too bad about this for the coin.

MikeInFL

Cleaned and retoned. The color is too even...Mike

1798CentCollector

Yes. It looks really bad. at this point. one might even consider cleaning this coin again and naturally retoning it using one of Sheldon's methods or another au naturale method.

lkenefic

<< <i>Yes. It looks really bad. at this point. one might even consider cleaning this coin again and naturally retoning it using one of Sheldon's methods or another au naturale method. >>



What would you use to clean this with? After cleaning, would you just use the olive oil treatment?

Thanks to everyone who responded.

Leo

TorinoCobra71

TC71

rhedden

I wouldn't clean it again. I'd just bury it in a flower pot for 6 months and hope that it doesn't corrode. Isn't that one of Sheldon's secret methods? The flower pot method sometimes works shockingly well for "naturally" recoloring cleaned copper coins, but it can be a disaster if the coin decides to corrode.

P.S.- I never would have noticed that this coin is recolored. I haven't seen a recolored coin of that particular shade. They are usually much easier to spot.

1798CentCollector

Yes, I know someone who wraps a coin in a slightly damp cloth and buries it in the ground - checking it every so often. Also placing a cleaned coin on a windowsill in the sun will work with cleaned coins. It will take some time.

It's hard to tell anything with bad photos, but the color looks like a hersey bar and the devices - letters and leaves are the exactly same color as the fields. There should be differencees also look between STATES and OF. Again it's often hard to tell with a photo - that's why stay away from buying copper unless on approval or without having seen the coin in person. There are some pretty expert cleaning and retoning jobs out there and the detractions are difficult to assess.