Collecting Large Cents

For some reason the name Tom Reynolds comes to mind but not sure if that is him. Still looking...

"I'm really intrested in the Large cents but The ebay side of things bothers me a bit."

Smart comment.

Yeah my shop choices are limited here also. I need to plan ahead and make a show date available. IF it wasn't such a pain I'd try to get one rolling here but tried it with reptiles and the market is tough. You do good your frist show due to being a novelty then after that it dies.

I have not done anything with regards to large cents to date, butwould like to start , have completed the canadian set.

Here's some photos of a bunch of large cents I bought off of ebay and the prices (including postage/insurance) that I paid:

1800: Paid $21.00

Image: 1800cent.jpg
60.78 KB

1828: Paid $13.51

Image: 1828cent.jpg
45.73 KB

1829: Paid $14.74

Image: 1829cent.jpg
39.08 KB

1835: Paid $23.01

Image: 1835cent.jpg
44.42 KB

1836: Paid $47.24

Image: 1836cent.jpg
45.95 KB

1850: Paid $29.51

Image: 1850cent.jpg
50.5 KB

1852: Paid $19.60 for one and $10.25 for the other.

Image: 1852cent.jpg
49.98 KB

Image: 1852cent2.jpg
42.43 KB

1853: Paid $4.78

Image: 1853cent.jpg
40.85 KB

I think I got a pretty good deal on every single one of these. I have to shake my head when people say that only damaged coins are available on ebay, or that there are no good deals to be found. Yes, there are people on ebay that want to rip you off and sell you damaged, overgraded, or overpriced coins, but there are people like that on the nearest street corner, in the nearest storefront, and just about everywhere else you go these days. Dishonesty is not limited to ebay, nor is honesty limited to those OUTSIDE ebay.

You make some good points, One Red Cent. I think your best deals were for the 1850 and the 1853. Sweet!

The big concern for me is that even fairly clear photos of early coppers won't always reveal subtle problems like altered color or slight corrosion. For low-priced items, or when buying from sellers with good return policies, I'm sometimes willing to gamble on ebay.

Coins designated problem-free by virtue of being graded by the top grading services (PCGS, NGC, or ANACS) are preferable IMO. Obviously, they also need to have positive eye appeal regardless of whether they are professionally graded. Even if I wanted a raw coin, I'd rather buy it in a slab and then crack it out.

Well I have picked up 3-43 off ebay. I'm hoping to be able to buy the book to identify the Dies. The books cost more than the coins so I'm having to save up hard to drop $100 on a book when there are so many coins needing a new home.

I have started on the 1827 for varieties I have the N-2 N-6 and N-9 so far only 9 more to go. 2 of those came from ebay.

It seems like it's a gamble off ebay. As looks like most don't check the variety. They just know it's an old copper large cent with a date. Does the Red Book not list the varieties in it? That is the only thing I can think of.