Large cent with line from the nose

norwegianguy

I bought this coin at EUR 108 from a European dealer (That is, US $160). Lots of money, but I believe it grades close to F (PCGS price guide: $215), so it's a fair buy.

On the portrait side, it has a funny line from the nose to the edge. Also, it has a die crack below the date.

Earlier this week, I noticed an ebay auction of an 1802 cent with the exact same characteristics. It was in better condition and sold a bit higher. But I wonder: Are these characteristics typical for the 1802 cent? Do they exist without the nose line?

Placid

If you are interested there are 100's of this date to look at in the Heritage auction archives.

MisterBungle

norwegianguy wrote, in part:

"On the portrait side, it has a funny line from the nose to the edge. Also, it has a die crack below the date."

Hi, norwegianguy!

What you have is a later die state of an S-226.

The "S" stands for Dr. William Sheldon who wrote the
book, "Penny Whimsy" in 1958 and gave numbers to
the differing die pairings for the early large cents,
1793-1814.

The die pairing for your cent is always seen with the
die break below the "802" and later in the marriage,
with the curving break from the rim opposite the chin,
to the nose up and into the hair, coming out to the base
of the "E" in "LIBERTY".

The reverse of this marriage is noted by the unfinished
loops in the ribbon.

The last time I checked this was still considered an R-3
variety, but that has been some time ago.

I hope this helped.

~

norwegianguy

Thanks a lot

1798CentCollector

Yes, as Mr. B notes it's an 1802 S-226 Variety. A later die state with the cracks and CUD below the date. The earliest die state can be seem with the pronounced crack. Still an R-3, Mr B. The coin has Very fine detail, but some surface problems, that would reduce the net grade.

1798CentCollector

Here's a similiar S-226 later die state