Recent Pickup - A Very Scarce 1858 Cent

Ya I think my eyes were just playing tricks on me

Yeah, Jim. The Full Vine/15 Stems are out there, but very, very scarce. Our working group put them in Charlton in 2011, and they have been in the front of the catalog ever since. That still has not resulted in many of them coming to light.

The TPGs recognize them, but not many have been submitted. PCGS has only graded my two (AU-50 and XF-45). They have made them part of their registry sets as a Victorian Cent variety. I think I remember another one in a ICCS VF holder selling at auction last year.

The five full vine 1858 business strike die pairs (OE1/RA1, OJ1/RA1, OF1/RA2, OA2/RA3, and OA1/RA4) are very much skewed towards one die pair. Almost every full vine 1858 that I see offered is from OA2/RA3. Coins from the other four die pairs are extremely scarce.

Very few business strike full vines in high grade have surfaced. I have an OA2/RA3 in 63RB (see Uncommon Cents article #1), and many years ago I saw another in 64RB. I did not buy the 64, because it really was no better than my 63. Those are the only two I have ever seen in mint state.

There are also three full vine die pairs struck in specimen (OA1/RA1, OA3/RA1, and OA3/RA3). All are rare and are discussed in Past & Nearly Perfect.

And here is the equally challenging OF1-RA2 (also Full vine and 16 Stems) in PCGS XF-45. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

All you guys showing those scarce, well-struck 1858's made me go look in my large cents that I didn't give to Gidjit to sell, so they are my keepers. Well, you guys made me bend my sore back to look at the microscope to see if I had a great one and I do, because Rob just posted it. It's a full vine 16 stem OF1-RA2 in AU. I looked and looked in Rob's 1858 book and couldn't find it, until I relooked at this thread. My example doesn't have the huge D/Cs running thru Victoria and Gratia/Regina the way that they are in the book. It just has the wide one at the C in Vicky and a teeny one over the R in Regina. Once Rob posted that one above, it was the same and maybe a little better than Rob's PCGS, so I'll guess AU. I no longer have a microscope that I can show on a computer, so I'll loan it to Gidjit, as I know he can and he can post it. Anyway, I feel good about a coin that was used on only 0.67% of the '58's.

Yep, that's my "R". And on the Reverse, all I see is a tiny D/C from one leaf tip at 13.