? about the 1888 Indian Head Penny 0

[FTW]

Hi.

I have a  complete coin collectors board of Indian head Pennies. I just noticed that the 1888 doesn’t have a star by it. Is the 1888 not as valuable as I had thought? 
it would be good to know because I have a big bag of Indian head pennies to go through. I would hate to miss something good. 

[Cbanton74]

On 10/29/2021 at 9:35 AM, FTW said:

Hi.

I have a  complete coin collectors board of Indian head Pennies. I just noticed that the 1888 doesn’t have a star by it. Is the 1888 not as valuable as I had thought? 
it would be good to know because I have a big bag of Indian head pennies to go through. I would hate to miss something good. 

What?

[GBrad]

On 10/29/2021 at 10:35 AM, FTW said:

Hi.

I have a  complete coin collectors board of Indian head Pennies. I just noticed that the 1888 doesn’t have a star by it. Is the 1888 not as valuable as I had thought? 
it would be good to know because I have a big bag of Indian head pennies to go through. I would hate to miss something good. 

I assume you are talking about the printed star on the album page next to 1877.  The reason 1877 has a star beside it is because it was the second lowest year of mintage for the Indian Head Cent series.  I would be willing to bet there is also a printed star next to the 1909-S slot in your album page because that year was the lowest mintage for the entire Indian Head Cent series. The star is there simply to denote that that year is a 'key' date in the series. The coin itself does not have a star on it, nor should it.  In addition, there is nothing special about the year 1888 as there were many millions struck.  

Edited October 29, 2021 by GBrad

[Mohawk]

On 10/29/2021 at 10:48 AM, GBrad said:

I assume you are talking about the printed star on the album page next to 1877.  The reason 1877 has a star beside it is because it was the second lowest year of mintage for the Indian Head Cent series.  I would be willing to bet there is also a printed star next to the 1909-S slot in your album page because that year was the lowest mintage for the entire Indian Head Cent series. The star is there simply to denote that that year is a 'key' date in the series. The coin itself does not have a star on it, nor should it.  In addition, there is nothing special about the year 1888 as there were many millions struck.  

GBrad hit this one out of the park....I can think of nothing to add.  

[FTW]

On 10/29/2021 at 10:48 AM, GBrad said:

I assume you are talking about the printed star on the album page next to 1877.  The reason 1877 has a star beside it is because it was the second lowest year of mintage for the Indian Head Cent series.  I would be willing to bet there is also a printed star next to the 1909-S slot in your album page because that year was the lowest mintage for the entire Indian Head Cent series. The star is there simply to denote that that year is a 'key' date in the series. The coin itself does not have a star on it, nor should it.  In addition, there is nothing special about the year 1888 as there were many millions struck.  

Thanks for your reply. I most have been on a bad internet page with some bad information. 

[GBrad]

On 10/29/2021 at 1:59 PM, FTW said:

Thanks for your reply. I most have been on a bad internet page with some bad information. 

Now we are talking about something totally different here @FTW in relation to the stars on your album page. I’m not going to say the info here is right or wrong speaking solely about the value(s) of the coins listed because I haven’t looked at the current values of IHC’s in quite some time. However, the bulleted and bold print concerning the 1888 Penny is completely valid.  We are now talking about known varieties of this coin in which there are several (the printed stars in your album are still only associated with key low mintage dates and nothing else). There is an over date for the year 1888 which I believe is extremely valuable depending on its condition obviously, and very rare. Albums, such as yours, are not designed to hold each of the different errors and/or varieties for each known year. These types of albums only hold each year and their respective mint mark from which a particular series of coins were struck. I think your “chart” is ok from what I can tell without going and researching each of these IHC values. Hope this helps. 

Edited October 29, 2021 by GBrad

[Coinbuf]

Totally agree with @GBrad, to the op you are confusing regular minted coins and rare varieties.    Not the same thing at all.

[Conder101]

Condensed version:  1888 common, 1888/7 RARE.