Last buy of 2010....Feuchtwanger Cent Scarce 2A variety

ambro51

During my morning "prowl"...which includes a yahoo search to check dealer inventories in addition to a cruise through ebay, what should pop up but a freshly advertised Feuchtwanger Cent, the scarce 2A variety. Seldom seen, seldom offered....this variety has a rather crudely sculpted eagle together with the A reverse that is only seen on the obverse 1 and obverse 2 varieties. But, as you see on the reverse some moron decades (centuries?) ago, took the time to carefully scratch up the reverse. Drat. Why do they do that?

But, anyway, this piece is an R5 (31 to 75 known) and is (besides the scratches) in rather nice condition. Its in an NCS holder, XF details scratched and improperly cleaned....but a great representation of the elusive 2 obverse.

Broadstruck

The Tic-Tac-Toe grid on the reverse is a real shame!

llafoe

Don't give up... you still have 17 hours left to purchase more coins!

ambro51

HAHAHAHA!!

CaptHenway

You are just a wild and crazy guy!!!!!!!

ambro51

The 2A is the 'easiest' to find within the group of "rare" feuchtwanger cents. A few of them, the 3C and the 4F as far as I can see have never even been imaged and I cannot find any sale records.

Rarity rules. luv it.

keets

Last buy of 2010

you think too highly of yourself, there are well over 12 hours left!!

DCW

Boy, ambro. You sure are assembling an extensive collection of these coins. Very impressive!

HoledandCreative

Definitely a nice acquisition. How many more of the 13 do you need?

ambro51

Ahhh....to complete the cents, the 1A 3B 3C 3D 3G 4F and 6G. Two of those, the 3C and the 4F....aside from breens creating the varieties, Ive not seen any sales recorded on these, or seen any images of them.

Also, I am on the lookout for the Russell 12 1/2 cent piece, which uses obverse 6 and a unique storecard type reverse for R E Russell.

For the series overall...my HT265 is the 'business strike' and the proof HT265a would be a great addition. The HT266 copper trial piece is currently on the market, and the HT264 three cent copper trial is 'somewhere'.

Technically the 2 undated Feuchtwanger storecards are in 'the series' also. After these, we can only speculate on IF a piece was associated with Feuchtwanger. There are numerous german silver HTTs which somewhat look like his work, but none are actually linked to him.

shorecoll

You could call some of the guys listed in the PCGS lawsuit and see if they can remove the scratches. Tell them you saw their ad in the court documents.

oreville

ambro51: A fine pickup!

Are you now going to do a grading set of these?

ambro51

Im thinking more or less these will have to go ATS for slabbing. Maybe even all the Three cent pieces. For one thing, this 2A wont PCGS grade, and even if it would the fact that PCGS does NOT note the variety on the slab with the one cent pieces....makes any sort of a logical collection of these difficult. And yes Im not locked into specific grade goals with them but rather DO want them in different grades. The Feuchtwanger cent is rather difficult to grade. The highest point is the body of the eagle, and if the planchet is lightweight, or the strike weak, the feather detail will not strike up well, leading to the usual confusion of wear/vs strike weakness. They are a strange feeling coin, the obverse very lumpy, and much higher than the rims. They do not stack.

After looking for examples of the 1 and 2 for several months, how odd it is to find the 2 the last day of the year, and the 1 the first day of the NEW year?

Once I get the series a bit more completed, the web site will happen. I always feel its better to own the coins you write about, it just gives more credence to the words. Also, Ill be able to compare these, weight and diameter, which varied through the types. That website is going to be pretty nice one day. But, its like when I used to write "term papers" Id actually have to form it in my head before it went onto paper.

Just pretty nice how this rarity goes unnoticed. Now, we have this 2A, an R5 piece, and this 1A, also an R5....selling for just about exactly the same as the very common 6I and 5G for instance. There are thousands of the more common types, but 35-75 each or so of these types. Sellers who do not realize the different varieties frequently price these pieces at 'incorrect' levels. Granted, the collector base for these is NOT as large as say for Indian cents or liberty nickels but they are interesting and captivating and once you get to know your way around the playing field, one Hell of an interesting series to collect. I suppose you could call these two types 'semi-keys' though the keys themselves seem to be invisible. Ive found no record of a 3C or a 4F though that may just be my lack of looking in the right places yet. Breen says they exist from his work with the series in the late 50s using the extensive stock of New Netherlands.

I cant wait to get these under my camera!!!

Heres this mornings New Years Day buy! From a dealer inventory, freshly listed I think, and priced very moderately. His website wouldnt allow a download of the image, but heres a photo of my screen image, tinkered with a bit, This A reverse is going to be great to Macro. Handcut. Do you believe that? All the letters...."Punches...we dont need no steeenking PUNCHES". And the more you look at it the worse it looks. The date numerals are so wacky out of size....The whole bird looks crude and ugly, but you can see the beginning of the beauty there, in the capture of the wing curves...but the head and beak is ugh. The engraver learned as he went, and by obverse 3.5 and 6 presented very impressive eagle head designs. Obverse 4 has the unique look of three dimensions, with the rear wing almost shadowed. beautiful.

This is the 1A (note the centering dot on the reverse)

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