1863 Indian Head Cent Concerns

Maybe I'm wrong but face just looks off. I've been collecting Indian Heads for 30 years and it just looks fishy. Another thing is the dark color. This coin is supposed to be copper-nickel which is lighter in color than bronze. Maybe some of the other Indian head collectors can give you a better idea but to me this one stinks.

It looks cleaned to me, but I don't see any obvious indications that it is counterfeit. It looks like it might have damage above the headdress. That date is common enough that you should be able to find one you like without too much difficulty. Unless you got it really cheap, send it back and look for another.

I only paid $4.95 total with buyers premium at and auction for the coin. It just seemed odd that the dimensions and weight were a little off.

This one is a good illustration of how "grading" and "grading from images" are entirely different animals.

First, the color is obviously a bit off as one can see in the background. It's an odd color - bet you don't have a sheet of paper that color in the house - so the observer immediately knows the color of the coin is off as well. A reasonable assumption is that the background is white and the white balance is too blue. As a result, the coin is too dark and not red enough to reflect reality. It's a correction one needs to learn to make when evaluating imagery.

Another correction is necessary when the coin is angled in the images. Macro photography compresses perspective, and positional relationships are distorted. It's an extra burden when things like date location and letter lineups are necessary for authentication.

Imagery such as this presents its' limitations immediately and you know you have to make corrections for it. The challenge is doing the best you can while knowing you can't be sure because you know the image is trying to lie to you.

.05 grams off the "official" weight is not something to be concerned about, especially when the tolerance range o the weight is probably .1 grams +/- or a little more. So a genuine piece direct fro the mint could weigh as much as 4.77 grams.