Today I received this 1863 Indian Head cent. The date does not look right to me. There also appears to be a bit of extra metal to the left of the 1 in the date and some raised spots of metal under the shield on the reverse.
It's a high grade coin, but no diamonds show on the ribbon and the LIBERTY looks mushy.
I have not been able to weigh it since I need to keep it in the seller's holder in case I return it.
What do people think; real or not? Thanks for sharing your opinions.
I'm no expert, but on first glance it is very worrying to me. "ONE CENT" looks very mushy, also the base of the "N" in "ONE" is more prominent than it should be. I agree the date looks strange and rim is partially missing beneath it, which is strange.
Unfortunately, I would say this coin is not authentic. The bust should be rounded, but this looks pointy to me. Also the middle portion of the E's in ONE and CENT are trumpet or funnel shaped, but they should be more of a vertical wall shape.
Weird, and IHC people need to have a look. It presents the look of a blatant counterfeit obverse mated to a genuine reverse. The date and denticles are all wrong. That forces me to look closer at the reverse, where I begin wondering about the leaves at the top of the wreath.
I weighed the 1863 and another coin, a 1906 Indian Head, from the same lot. I weighed both coins in the paper holders. Both holders have four staples in them. The 1863 in the holder weighs 1.50 grams more than the 1906 in the holder (7.18 vs. 5.68 grams).
The weight difference between a copper-nickel 1863 and a bronze Indian head should be 1.56 grams (4.67 vs. 3.11), so it's close.
It is 19 mm. in diameter which is standard diameter.
I also compared this coin to an authentic MS-63 1863 Indian Head which I own and the dates look very different.
Also, if there is any way to measure the weight, it should be 4.67 grams. I have a cheap digital scale that comes in a CD case that is pretty accurate (measures to 1/100 of a gram). When I have measured post 1864 Indian Heads (3.11 grams), my average weight for 17 coins was 3.09 grams. So this would be another good indicator of it's authenticity if you can weigh it.
I am leaning toward not genuine. As already mentioned, the coin has mushy details, wrong style date, and the color looks a little off for a copper nickel cent. There are unusual lumps of metal like those between TA and S in states. The coin seems to have the incorrect reverse. This coin appears to have the bold N reverse but that reverse wasn't first used until 1870.
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Posted 01/10/2015 8:49 pm
