NEWP: 1855 Flying Eagle Pattern J-168

JZrarities · July 12, 2009 11:43AM

Picked up from a local coin shop while on vacation...

I'm told it's an ex: Rick Kay piece.

CopperWire · July 12, 2009 11:47AM

fun coin. part of a set?

AnkurJ · July 12, 2009 11:47AM

Nice vacation pickup!

NumisOxide · July 12, 2009 11:51AM

Cool pattern.

TomB · July 12, 2009 12:57PM

These are very cool. Do you have larger images?

fcloud · July 12, 2009 1:07PM

Very nice!

JZrarities · July 12, 2009 1:28PM

<< <i>These are very cool. Do you have larger images? >>

I have a closeup of the obverse.

CHAMELEON · July 12, 2009 4:43PM

Too cool! I love patterns. They are my favorite types of coins, but I've yet to own one.

jhdfla · July 12, 2009 4:47PM

Very cool pick up. That eagle always reminds me of a buzzard...

BillyGoatsGruff · July 12, 2009 5:32PM

Nice.

JZrarities · July 13, 2009 8:37AM

It's called a 'Hook Neck' Eagle.

partagas · July 13, 2009 8:46AM

It is a great coin, I have one as well. It is on loan to Rick right now for his interesting study of these pieces.

JZrarities · July 13, 2009 8:49AM

<< <i>It is a great coin, I have one as well. It is on loan to Rick right now for his interesting study of these pieces. >>

Any idea when his book is due to come out?

Darkwaverave · July 13, 2009 10:12AM

That is a great pattern, I love that design.

partagas · July 28, 2009 12:48AM

<< It is a great coin, I have one as well. It is on loan to Rick right now for his interesting study of these pieces. >>

Any idea when his book is due to come out?

I don't have an answer to that question. But Rick just emailed me the tru-view of my coin, and I asked him that question in my reply. So hopefully he will give me an update and I will post. Heres is the pic.

eggbone · July 28, 2009 1:10AM

Beautiful Piece!
Nice find

LeeG · July 28, 2009 1:19AM

Awesome!!!!!!!!

mdwoods · July 28, 2009 1:23AM

Great looking piece. You gotta love those Flying Eagle large cents.

RYK · July 28, 2009 1:38AM

Those are great coins. The relief is such that it often looks like the eagle is flying off the planchet.

northcoin · July 28, 2009 4:49AM

Obvioulsy there were at least two. How many of the 1855 Flying Eagle Patterns were minted?

etexmike · July 28, 2009 5:02AM

Great looking coin.

It appears to me that you have much better vacations than I do.

Mike

RBinTex · July 28, 2009 5:14AM

partagas · July 28, 2009 5:19AM

Thanks for the compliments, regarding the question about the mintage. I don't know how many were minted and can't seem to find any reliable resources. Hopefully Rick will see this thread and chime in.

It is listed as an R4 coin with a combined pop of about 167 based on numbers from Heritage.

They are auctioning on off in a few days.

EagleEye · July 28, 2009 5:20AM

Rick and myself have agreed to co-author this research project. Rick Kay is studying the metrics and I am studying the die states. Clearly he has put a ton of $$ into this, so I hope my contribution is equal to the task. This project is still in the research phase, so don't go out and pre-order it.

Rick bought many 1855 and 1854 LFE's so he could send them in and get tested and weighed. Not a cheap proposition. He has been selling off a few. I have some of his on consignment on my web site.

As far as mintage, 300 is probably the maximum of the 1855's. Many were cleaned as they didn't go to collectors at the time. The 1854's are much scarcer, maybe 75 struck, max.

(LFE = Large Flying Eagle)

partagas · July 28, 2009 5:38AM

Rick thanks for chiming in and helping us neophytes learn a thing our two. Glad to hear you are helping on this project. I really look forward to reading the results of your joint efforts.

stinkinlincoln · July 28, 2009 5:44AM

Great piece!

This is a bookmarked thread for sure!

RKKay · August 7, 2009 4:06PM

<< <i>Picked up from a local coin shop while on vacation...

I'm told it's an ex: Rick Kay piece.

>>

I'm not sure if that is one of my previous coins are not. The CERT number does not match any of my records. As well, although I've had many many LFEs, I don't recall ever having one in 55. However, it is possible.
It's a nice looking coin. It's interesting to note that, based upon my testing so far, this coin would be in the low end for copper percentage (91%) and at the high end for tin percentage (7.7%). The expected composition is 95% copper, 4% tin and 1% zinc. I have tested fewer than five with less copper and more tin. What is the significance of this? I'm currently tried to figure it out.
I am glad that Rick spilled the beans about the book. I had not mentioned anything about it, as I was still in shock that someone of Rick's stature in this field would agree to co-author a book with me. This is a massive undertaking, and the only way it can get done is with Rick's expertise. I have about a dozen notebooks full of statistics, auction records, old literature and photos. I have been relying upon other much more experienced numismatists than myself to help me get through this. With this help, we'd made to other major discoveries at the ANA in Los Angeles this week.
More to come...

NEWP: 1855 Flying Eagle Pattern J-168

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