Last but not least - 1838

1838 was a date I'd been wanting to upgrade for awhile. I had bought an MS64BN in Heritage's auction during the 2004 Pittsburgh ANA show. It's a nice coin overall, but a couple wisps of lighter toning, probably remnants of a fingerprint, appear on the portrait and are a little distracting.

After getting the subjects of my previous five journals, I still had enough money for one more coin of similar quality. I'm happy with my 1839 N-3 Head of 38 (part of the "middle dates") and N-8 Petite Head (part of the "late dates"), and was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to afford a nice Booby Head or Silly Head from the Naftzger offerings. So I removed the 1839s from serious consideration.

In my final pre-sale prep, I had picked out two potential target 1838s: a really nice MS67BN N-4 (the same variety I already had), which I didn't really expect to get; and a nice MS66BN N-7 that had a lot of red for a BN designation. Given the previous purchases, I didn't think I'd have enough for either one. The N-4 did sell for plenty, and I was re-planning in real time given the limited funds still available.

Up came an MS66RB N-6, with EAC-style grade MS65, tied for CC#2 and CC#3 in the Bland and Noyes censi, respectively. I didn't have a specific maximum written down, but my early guidelines would allow a hefty price. I ended up "winning" it with a bid only 60% of the maximum I had planned for the N-7, which sold for quite a bit more. Given that both are common varieties and that my N-6 has more red color, I think this worked out well.

After the winning bid, I leaned toward Bill Noyes, who had been chatting with me a little during the sale, and said, "Well, that wiped me out."

Like the other five Naftzger cents I obtained, this one has great luster. Other than being toned mostly brown (but with enough red to deserve the RB designation and 65 EAC grade), the surfaces are virtually pristine. The strike is weak in most of the stars, as is typical for 1838 cents in the marketplace. All this is consistent with my lot viewing notes that say simply, "nice". When unqualified, as here, that means a superior coin.

This ends my series on the individual purchases. I plan to write one more journal with some "final" thoughts on my Naftzger middle dates auction experience.