1842 Braided Hair Large Cent, Grade?

OK, why NG?

GrapeCollects, I'm not seeing any markers to the contrary that this piece is not genuine. can you point to what you are seeing that backs up your assessment?

I agree with the surfaces, however, could we be looking at a corroded or chopped up planchet prior to strike? the fonts serifs and spacing look ok based on the flattening of the letters due to wear. there was only obverse and reverse hub used for this series and the only device engraved in the die was the date so everything should match up other than that and based on what I'm seeing they seem to. I am questioning why all of the coins summited by OP in this lot all have the same overall look which is odd. I think we need some of the copper experts to chime in as well

Scope Pics, should help.

I'm just learning how to do variety attribution on late-date large cents. I'm not very good at it yet, so you'd probably be better off having someone more experienced help you. For example, 1842 has 9 different varieties. My thought is if you could attribute your coins that would help verify authenticity. After all, what counterfeiter is going to take the time to counterfeit an 1842 N6 in circulated condition.

@KYCopperCoins, I think the issue is the light on the scope. LED lights tend to wash out the color and make surfaces look altered.

I hope you don't mind a couple ideas here to help the pics showcase your coins closer to what you see in hand. I'm certainly no expert on coin photos. I'm just a klutz with a camera and some software to fix my goofy pics.

When I use my USB scope, I always have to compensate for the harsh LED lights. If I don't, my pics look like the local police DUI arrest mug shots. Here's an over-under of one of your pics with just two adjustments to the bottom pic.


The light is reduced about 25% and the color is warmed about 10%. It's probably closer to what you see in-hand, but still not right. With the coin in hand, you can adjust the light and warmth until the pic fairly matches what you see in real life. This approach works well with copper, nickel, and circulated silver. Where the real problems arise is PL dollar reflectivity. That's a longer process. I use paint.net for my photos, but many others use a wide variety of other software.

Just a thought. Your coins are awesome. With just a couple tweaks, I think the pics can do justice to your coins. Again, I hope I'm not causing offense by the suggestion. I appreciate you and your knowledge and experience.

I'll shut up now and go back to pre-grazing on a pumpkin pie that my wife left unguarded in the kitchen.