Strange Indian Head Cent

Hi, that's interesting!
Judging by the legend, the coin is post-1886, possibly even 1887. Definitely pre-1900.
I see the relief in the obverse legend and date is inconsistent with the portrait relief.
I think it could be due to a very dirty die--or possibly post-mint wear--hard to say for sure from pics.
An expert here might be able to make a better call.

Hi,

I really think it is an 1887. I played with the picture and did some weird things with color and it brought out the date a little more.

Second digit is an 8. On the third digit I could see the upper opening of an 8. If you look at the pictures above, there is a residue of something to the left of the 7 and just left and a little higher is another black "dot" ...That dot looks like the lower opening of an 8.

I suspect that the coin was Struck Through Grease and then circulated since nobody cared about that kind of thing way back when:-) I suspect that the coin was then damaged during that period of circulation. Sometime after that, someone probably noticed the anomaly with the Legend and Date and pulled the coin from circulation and kept it.

In my opinion, it would difficult to imagine a pattern of wear that would leave the detail of the head but wear away the rest like that.

I hope that helps,
Bill

I agree with Bill, greased die.

I think that due to the damages, it becomes more of a curiosity than a coin with a premium attached to it.

In some cases, damage can be ignored. In this case, it's too evident.

Thanks,
Bill