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 Replies: 11 / Views: 2,172 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
I've had this large cent for a while, but I don't know much about it, other than "S.C" is punched into the obverse. The punch marks look old, but that's all I can say about it. Can anyone narrow down the date of this large cent? Thanks!   |
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
I'm no expert but just from looking at the coin facts page on this site I can tell that you that I think your coin was made sometime between 1808 and 1857. The wreath design on the reverse first appeared in 1808. Before that year the wreath leaves look quite different.
I can make out the word 'liberty' on Lady Liberty's headband. You don't have the obverse photo of the coin oriented to match the reverse. So I'm kind of going nuts trying to get an idea of how her hair is.
The large cents minted from 1808 to 1814 do not have stars that go all the way around on the obverse. There is a spot on your coin where the are no stars but it is not above Lady Liberty's head...so I would narrow down the possible dates to sometime between 1816 to 1857 -- that is assuming that the stars wore off near where the hole was punched.
Hope that helps. I think there are only two possible choices to make and with the coin in hand you might do better at figuring out whether the coin was made between 1816 and 1839 or between 1839 and 1857. Just go to the coin facts page and check out the photos.
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
10045 Posts |
Thanks for all the info! Comparing to my RedBook, it appears to be the Matron head design (1816-35) When/why the coin was punched would be interesting to know, but impossible to be sure. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
Based on the hole location, there is some die rotation happening on this one.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Good catch on the rotation! I looks about 30 degrees.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1757 Posts |
The date is irrelevant. Its a middle date large cent. Not worth anything ... not a counterstamp/countermark listed in Brunk. $1-$2.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Right--I wasn't expecting any value. Just interesting to think about possible use.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1757 Posts |
My guess it was an identification tag. Seen colonials with holes and possible tag use ... one idea is even an animal tag such as for cattle to a particular ranch. Merchant tag, etc ...
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
I also read somewhere that troops would sometimes have makeshift company/ID tags using coins. But this one seems too crude/general. Whatever it was, it's still cool to own!  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
Sometimes I think that these were 'love' tokens -- like a guy would give his gal to wear on a chain or a ribbon. It is sort of fun to think about who SC might have been. It is a shame we'll never know. I have a Morgan dollar with four initials scratched into it -- probably kids going steady a long time ago. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
731 Posts |
My guess tells me it's most likely a love token too, albeit crude.
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
Could very well be a love token. Yes, very crudely made.
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Replies: 11 / Views: 2,172 |
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Posted 01/15/2012 3:51 pm
