Full Brockage Indian Head Cent Error Coin 0

[Kermit18]

I collected coins from 1970 to very early 1990. My collection has sat untouched in a closet since then. I am currently in the process of selling off my collection. I can figure out current market prices on almost everything but this 1897 Indian Head penny that is a full or complete incusement or brockage. The Indian Head appears on both sides. Along with the coin I have seven pieces of written correspondence I had in 1970 about the coin with James G. Johnson of Coin World and Marvin R. Rosen of NECA. Mr. Rosen issued a signed certificate stating that the coin is a genuine error. Can anyone please give me some idea of its value and the best way to go about selling it?

[Coinbuf]

Welcome to the forum, true error coins (unlike varieties) are very difficult to place values on as each coins is somewhat unique and subject to market demand.   My suggestion is that you have the coin authenticated and graded by NGC and then place it with Heritage or Stacks for auction.   That will give you a true idea of the value.

[Sandon]

   Welcome to the NGC chat board.

   It is difficult to predict the price that an error coin will bring, as each one is unique.  My most recent deluxe edition Redbook, the 7th edition published in 2021, lists an Indian cent brockage at $400.  Yours is quite eye-catching, especially as each side shows a full date, and may well bring more, perhaps as much as a few thousand dollars.  The auction archives at Stacks Bowers Galleries, a major numismatic auction house, shows a few offerings of brockages that blocked the obverse instead of the reverse die selling for as much as $2,880. https://archive.stacksbowers.com/?q=5951db98-5ea4-45eb-813c-ce5fb320b3c9  I found a wide range of prices realized for a variety of Indian cent brockages at Heritage's auction archives at https://www.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=0+790+231&Ntk=SI_Titles-Desc&Nty=1&Ntt=Indian+cent+brockage&limitTo=all . (You may need to get a free password to see the prices realized at Heritage.) You may wish to search for similar archived results at Goldberg Coins & Collectibles (goldbergcoins.com) and Great Collections (greatcollections.com). 

   One option for sale would be to consign your coin to one of these major auction houses. (They will likely have the coin certified by NGC or PCGS prior to sale.) There are also dealers who specialize in mint errors who I'm sure would make offers for your coin. One I know to be active, though I have never done business with him is Sullivan Numismatics, Inc. of Land O Lakes, Florida, (931) 797-4888, www.sullivannumismatics.com, e-mail: jon@sullivannumismatics.com. You may be able to locate other dealers who specialize in mint errors through the NGC dealer directory (go to the "Resources" tab on the NGC home page and select "Locate Dealers"), the Professional Numismatists Guild (pngdealers.org), the American Numismatic Association (money.org), and the PCGS dealer directory (https://www.pcgs.com/dealers).  

   Your documentation from 1970 is interesting. I believe that NECA is now after a merger many years ago known as CONECA.

 

[Kermit18]

I can't begin to thank you enough for your excellent reply and help.

[Kermit18]

On 5/26/2023 at 9:28 PM, Coinbuf said:

Welcome to the forum, true error coins (unlike varieties) are very difficult to place values on as each coins is somewhat unique and subject to market demand.   My suggestion is that you have the coin authenticated and graded by NGC and then place it with Heritage or Stacks for auction.   That will give you a true idea of the value.

Thank you so much for the advice.

[powermad5000]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

As stated by others, error coin prices are as unique as the error itself. It depends on what someone is willing to pay for it. Full brockages with complete details are quite rare and error collectors would be willing to pay premium dollars for such an error. Yours is quite spectacular with the complete image viewable on both sides of the coin. 

I do note on your coin, to me it also appears to have been broadstruck. If that is officially the case, your coin would command top dollar. I would definitely have this coin graded by NGC to get an official description as well as a numeric grade. I would submit this under the Standard tier at a minimum (this tier is for coins valued between $300 and $3,000) Once you get the coin back, you have your choice to sell it at auction, but I would recommend Sullivan Numismatics. I would think they would buy the coin outright without you having to lose a percentage that an auction house would take from the sale. I have not sold any coins to them but I did buy a Gold Eagle Lamination error from them. Most of what they have in their inventory is high dollar.

If you do send the coin to NGC, come back and visit us with the results. I am sure many of us on here would be interested to see it officially graded.

[Kermit18]

Thank you so much for your sage advice. I do plan on having the coin graded by NGC and I will let you know how it grades.