Hi all,
First post on the NGC forums after reading for a while, so happy to be here! I just picked up my first big coin after becoming a newly minted (no pun intended) college graduate and earning my bachelors degree in history. My studies focused on early United States history and focused on the Revolutionary War era stretching back to the late 1730s and into the beginning of the 19th century.
Ever the history student, I had been satisfying my innate curiosity when I learned about the fugue cent and its fascinating history. Please feel free to share other examples, but I can't think of many other early United States coins that have such a story and as many historical factors associated with it! For instance, it is the only United States federal coin issued under the Articles of Confederation, was designed in part by Benjamin Franklin and struck and produced as the Constitution was being debated and ratified by the states. In addition it has been reported that the copper from which the coins were struck came from copper bands which held together barrels of gunpowder sent over from the French during the Revolutionary War. I have also read that due to the coin's colorful and troubled production history with James Jarvis, it led in part to the establishment of the U.S. Mint in order for the Government to have a stricter and better regulated way to produce National currency. To me, this is all utterly fascinating!
As you can bet, I really worked my magic to try and procure an example. Now for me, the history is the most important factor, not necessarily grade or value. Being the novice that I am, my head started to spin upon seeing the various examples and prices... oh the prices! I tried doing my best due diligence to find a graded example but wasn't too pleased with what I would be getting getting for around $300 and the pickings were quite slim. That's when upon sharing my enthusiasm for history and excitement about the fugio cents with a fellow collector, I was offered an extremely generous deal on an example. The coin was extremely low grade at "VF DETAILS" and carried with it a notation of "environmental damage" but regardless, it was a fugio. Even better was that it was of the "United States" variety rather than of the "STATES UNITED" which I enjoy. On top of that, the major details are present as is its undisputed authenticity which was by far the most important factor.
The coin is now the cornerstone of my registry set add first graded coin I've picked up and I'm super excited to share it here in my debut post! With that said, I do have a few questions about the coin... what exactly might the environmental damage be on this coin? Also, I noticed cracks running diagonally along the reverse of the coin. Would this be due to a planchet flaw/crack or something else entirely and relate to the environmental damage?
Thanks for reading!