Any references on 19th-century Liberian pieces?

coinpictures

I've always liked the look of the mid-1800s Liberian pieces, especially all of the different patterns available.

Are there any printed or online references devoted to these pieces?

lordmarcovan

Krause is all I've ever seen on them.

I agree- they're cool pieces. And I like the proofs, though I've never owned one.

nencoin

There is a reference (not sure how available it is). You'll occasionally see a K number (such as K-37). The author is E. Kraus (ironically similar in name, isn't it?), and the book is Pattern Coins of Liberia. You can check with Charles Davis Numismatic Literature, or abebooks.com.

Chris

coinpictures

Thanks Chris. I'm coming up goose-egg both at abebooks.com and even in a general Google search. Bleagh.

coinpictures

Krause doesn't give information on this, but I'm hoping someone here might know:

Are any of the 1-cent and 2-cent denominations known in off-metal strikes, in the same way the 10-cent and 25-cent denominations are?

I just received an approval lot of 7 Liberian proof patterns from NEN, and I'm comparing the pieces. The one piece that I originally had ordered, KM-PN16, PF64 BN CAMEO, looks completely different from the other 6, and I'm not referring to the cameo. The other 6 pieces are in various shades of red, brown, purple, and blue, but this piece does not appear to be copper. It is a steel grey, like copper nickel or some other sort of grey metal.

I'll have to see if I can capture it, and if the color holds up under camera. At first glance, it looks like NGC may have goofed on this one.

I also find it interesting the NONE of these pieces show up in the NGC population data. I must have 20-30 darkside NGC slabs that are not in their population reports, despite their claims that their population data is up to date... NOT!

MrEureka

Today's Spink sale has a really great run of these. Check out their catalog online and the prices realized later today.

coinpictures

Yeah, I saw a number of those listed on Ebay LiveAuctions. It will be hard to equate prices though, since the majority of Liberian pieces in that collection are either VF-XF (business strikes) or impaired (proofs). Virtually no "high grade" examples. Still, good fodder nonetheless.