Are all evenly-colored early coppers most likely recolored?

Longacre · August 21, 2006 1:56AM

Whenever I see a perfectly evenly colored early copper coin, I always wonder if that is an indication that the coin has been recolored. In all other series, when a coin is completely natural, it is not likely that the coin is a perfectly uniform color. Given that it is almost accepted in the early copper community that a coin can be recolored, does a coin in a circulated grade, with even color, indicate that it has been recolored?

ColonialCoinUnion · August 21, 2006 1:58AM

You can't say with certainty what has and hasn't been recolored. And if you think that spotting NT vs AT on a silver coin can be tough . . . .

BillJones · August 21, 2006 2:04AM

The grading services body bag nice looking early copper like crazy. If they were as tough on early silver, very little of it would make into slabs. You can really alter the surfaces of an early silver and now early gold coin by stripping it, and it will still grade. A lot of early copper that has had little or nothing done to it gets a body bag.

Recently Bill Noyes published a book with color pictures of the finest known examples of each variety of 1793 and '94 large cents. As looked it over, I was surprised by how many of the coins pictured there would never get into a PCGS or NGC holder because of cleaning or other "problems."

Are all evenly-colored early coppers most likely recolored?

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