1864 Lm 2¢ - Super Rare! (Just Kidding, Richard)

You can find 1864-1868 2¢ pieces all day long. Actually, just about all dates except for 1872 (and the 1864 SM can be a little evasive)

I really didn't need another 1864, but this one had really nice surfaces and a fantastic price. I couldn't pass it up. It has a really cool die-crack going through the "E" in STATES. It's actually more obvious in-hand than the scan shows.

The copper guys around here will note that this coin has been treated with Blue Ribbon (not by me). That's a non-issue for me. I don't mind it as long as there are no real surface problems with the coin. It tends to make the coins a bit glossier and more attractive to buyers (this is typically used by dealers, not collectors). It can pretty easily come off in acetone and I've found it to be completely benign. You can tell that it was treated, not just by the slight glossiness, but by the dirt left over in the legend.