I came across this 1797 cent that has me stumped. The reverse is beyond doubt that of S-130, but the obverse is not and is in fact one I cannot identify at all. It has a low, straight, medium date, whereas all the 1797 obverses either seem to have some degree of curvature in the date or a very different numeral positioning. Notably, the top of the 1 is farther below the hair than I've seen on any other 1797, and it's much more vertically angled than on the S-130 obverse. I have checked the NCs as well and it doesn't match any of them. What do I have here, a mangled 130 or a new NC-9? Is Conder in the house?
After doing some more staring at every Sheldon variety, I have pinpointed the obverse of S-132, a stemless variety, as at least a strong possibility. It at least has the date logotype I'm looking for; the Draped Bust cent obverse is one of the most sparse designs in US coinage, and Liberty is exactly the same on most of the 1797s, so the date is really all I have to go on. Am I ever going to get a good expert reply for this?
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