1840 Large Cent - Peculiar Features

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Author	Replies: 3 / Views: 1,815
EFLargeCents Pillar of the Community United States 1304 Posts	Posted 12/17/2013 10:23 am I picked this up the other day, not just because I needed to fill that hole in my Dansco, but the price was right and this one has some peculiar features. 1840 Large Date variety. First off, the color is black/silver/gray but no appearance of corrosion. To say the least its interesting and is the only large cent in my collection with this color (for reference the background is brown cardboard). Second, the first S in States seems to have either been affected by a die crack, struck through or a planchet flaw. I'm not sure what happened, but there is a raised area "above" the bottom serif of the S. Thoughts? Last but not least, a defined shape appears on the E in ONE on the reverse and continues above the E in the field, under magnification it appears above the surface ever so slightly. There are a lot of "strange" marks on the field on the reverse, hard to photograph though, this one was the easiest. I don't know what to make of all of this, any thoughts from copper experts is appreciated! Report this Post to the Staff

SsuperDdave Moderator United States 23522 Posts	Posted 12/17/2013 12:53 pm I'm going to let the real experts chime in about the color, aside offering the belief that you have it pretty close to perfect in view of what you mention about the background - if it's right, the coin color is right. The "S" feature sure looks like a planchet lamination, and I think above the E/rest of the reverse are artifacts of die clashing. Report this Post to the Staff
TJsCoins Pillar of the Community United States 3229 Posts	Posted 12/18/2013 5:17 pm I am guessing chemically cleaned might account for the surfaces. I agree with the lamination at the S on states. Possible die chip or cutter error over the E in one? Interesting cent. Report this Post to the Staff
just carl Bedrock of the Community United States 20753 Posts	Posted 12/18/2013 6:09 pm In experimenting with a damaged Large Cent I found cleaning it with different solutions created some very unusual colors. Your Coin is most likely gone through some type of either cleaning or exposed to some chemical. It does appar to be legit though. That mark by the S could be almost anything including post mint damage or a mint problem. Remember that way back in those days, almost anything could happen. I doubt there are any real accurate records as to the composition of Large Cents and with Zillions of varieties, anyone's guees. I still think it's just discoloration from a cleaning solvent. I wouldn't take a chance on attempting to restore the real color unless you really want to take chances. To many hundreds of dollars in value for that. Report this Post to the Staff
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