Nice Flying Eagle

shylock · December 26, 2002 10:00AM

Heritage added digital pics to all the Gorrell lots, and now I see why his 1858LL is the only FE to grade MS67. It's mellowed in tone but has the type of strike you see on the finest proofs, particularly the wreath details and the eagle's head. Ever see a more perfect eyeball on one of these?

mbbiker · December 26, 2002 10:01AM

drool, that is a heart stopper!!!!

ccrdragon · December 26, 2002 10:02AM

Drool, drool, drool!
So much for my keyboard!

Pushkin · December 26, 2002 10:49AM

Exquisite.

tjkillian · December 26, 2002 11:35AM

Very well struck and fantastic surfaces! I could see that in my collecton

The digital picture really shows the luster.

Tom

DoubleDime · December 26, 2002 11:48AM

Yes !! That is a very nice coin, very nice.

coinnerd · December 26, 2002 11:50AM

WOW

Bulldog · December 26, 2002 12:29PM

This is exactly what pisses me off with coin collecting. Work your butt off your whole life. Save a few bucks. Collect coins for 40+ years and you see coins to die for, knowing that you will never own any of them.

Oh well, I had better get back to Ebay and see if I can find some nice MS60 Franklins....LOl

BD

prooflike · December 26, 2002 12:33PM

nice strike, good luster, clean surfaces....nice!

bigtonydallas · December 26, 2002 12:55PM

VERY NICE COIN! If I had won the $319 million powerball I would have bid on this beauty!!!

Gemini · December 26, 2002 8:51PM

I am glad Heritage upgraded the quality of their photos and you can really appreciate this coins beautiful details.
As the saying goes "One picture is worth a thousand words"

MastaHanky · December 26, 2002 9:22PM

FAP

goose3 · December 26, 2002 11:38PM

Imagine how nice it Really looks in person without the dark shadows over the top half of each side!

Paul they need to hire you for photography or at least lessons!

CharlieB · December 26, 2002 11:38PM

Question:
Will somebody please tell me, how does something like this
stand up to time after all these years?

Answer:
TLC

mdwoods · December 26, 2002 11:41PM

Absolutely superb cent. mdwoods

Mark · December 27, 2002 12:50AM

Paul:

You mention the strength of the strike of this beautiful (!) coin. I know that with 3CNs, it is often hard to determine if a coin is a mint state coin or a proof. Indeed, as a collector of MS 3CNs, one of the things you must watch out for are proofs that have been mislabeled as mint state. So, is there a possibility that this coin is actually a mislabeled proof or are there diagnostics that enable you tod etermine that the coin is not a proof?

Thanks in advance.

mark

FatMan · December 27, 2002 1:09AM

A beauty.

What is the "LL" stand for after the date.

Rotts · December 27, 2002 1:12AM

Lucky Lucybop

Rotts\or large letters

tjkillian · December 27, 2002 1:37AM

Fatman, the "LL" stands for "Large Letters". The "A" and "M" in America are joined at the base for the LL version and are separated for the SM (Small Letters) version.

Tom

MacCoin · December 27, 2002 1:45AM

thanx Paul

FatMan · December 27, 2002 1:54AM

Rotts & Tom,

Thanks

Shudan · December 27, 2002 1:58AM

That's amazing... I'm just getting back into the collecting frenzy and now I know why!
Thanks!

shylock · December 27, 2002 3:43AM

Mark -- great point, and in some cases (besides the 1856) I wouldn't doubt if FEs were miss-attributed as MS or visa versa. I think the finish of a well struck copper-nickel, as opposed to bronze, makes it easier to be fooled. There was an 1859 Indian cent NGC MS67 for sale at Heritage's Sept. Long Beach that many experts felt was actually a "one strike" proof, making it much less rare and desirable (it didn't sell).

But in this case there's only one known die set for 1858 Large Letter proofs, making miss-attribution unlikely. The traits of the proof dies are explained in another Gorrell lot by Rick Snow, who wrote the copy for many of these: link. Gorrell's proofs are pretty spectacular and worth browsing through.

IrishMike · December 27, 2002 7:57AM

That is a remarkable coin. Mark here is a picture of two 1907 IHC's. The coin on the left is a proof and the one on the right ms. Please look at the rim and the denticles, you can see a big difference in the proof strike versus the ms strike. To me this is the easiest way to verify the difference.

Lakesammman · December 27, 2002 8:55AM

In this case, there is no down side. If it turns out to be a proof, it's a steal!

The big problem with bidding on this coin are all the type collectors - few of the FE folks can match their pocket books if they really want this one. It will be fun to evaluate in person and see if the coin deserves the plastic.

IrishMike - thanks for the side by side comparison - that really helps. Us slab collectors have never really seen the edge of a coin before

IrishMike · December 27, 2002 10:07AM

Tim, who says these weren't in a slab at one time.

Mark · December 27, 2002 10:09AM

Mike:

That picture is wonderful--it really shows the difference clearly. I have compared some 3CNs, proof and mintstate, side-by-side, but your picture is MUCH better than seeing the coins in person!

Mark

shylock · December 27, 2002 10:26AM

I've already stolen that pic for future use on my website, excellent concept image Mike. It seems obvious but you just can't find IH comparison images like that.

IrishMike · December 27, 2002 10:32AM

OK now I have to be honest, ahem. I originally purchase both of them thinking they were ms, as did the seller. It was only after taking the pictures that I noticed that the one was a proof. I think I posted this same picture about 6 or 7 months ago, asking if I was the only who wondered if the one wasn't a proof.

MrKelso · December 29, 2002 10:36PM

sweet

Nice Flying Eagle

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