1877 Indian Head Cent - Would a TPG Even Assign a Grade To This One? 1 1

[ButchMcQueen]

Hi,

I came across this one in an inherited collection. According to the Red Book, even at the lowest grade it is worth a bit. However, this one is in such bad shape I wonder if it would receive a grade at all. On the one hand, the date is still legible, but on the other hand it is about as ugly as ugly can be!  Thanks in advance for any replies.

Butch

[Coinbuf]

I think between the obv scratch and the corrosion damage this would receive a details grade.  The TPG's do give key dates some leniency at times but this one looks too far gone.

[Sandon]

    This apparently genuine 1877 Indian cent has About Good obverse details and Good reverse details, but the deep obverse scratch and substantial reverse corrosion would almost certainly preclude a numerical grading service grade. It's a nice "filler" for an album collection.  

    Years ago, collectors saved pieces of this date in any condition, while Indian cents of most other dates that looked like this would still be spent, explaining why so many 1877s are found in very low grades.

[ButchMcQueen]

Coinbuf, thanks for the perspective and the mention of a details grade, something I was unaware even existed, so I'm now reading up on that.

Sandon, You pretty much have described the backstory of this coin! It came out of one of those old blue Whitman Publishing (Copyright 1940) coin collection folding books and was surrounded by much nicer looking coins from the years before and after 1877.

thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Butch 

[Sandon]

   See the following for NGC's explanation of and policies regarding "Details" grading: NGC Details Grading | NGC (ngccoin.com). Speaking for myself, I wouldn't submit this coin.

[powermad5000]

As long as the coin is genuine, and has a legible date, it would most likely be encapsulated, even with severe impairments. This surely would be a details coin for the large obverse scratch but I think it would additionally be tagged for corrosion.

As this is a popular collector coin and many fakes have been produced over the years, I think encapsulation would be for authentication purposes and would help to eliminate that variable when it comes to selling. A collector would be more comfortable buying one of these slabbed than spending a lot on a possible fake. As of this comment, a look in the NGC price guide shows one of these at Pr/AG at $475. That might be a reasonable price for an unimpaired specimen, but this coin with its impairments would not get that much premium in the marketplace and may only get about $200 or less.

If I had this coin, I might submit it just to have the guarantee of authenticity on display with the slab to remove that from the equation when it comes time to sell.

[ButchMcQueen]

Powermad, This is my thinking as well. I've got a few coins I'm considering submitting for grading and if I decide to do that I might jut add this one to the mix.  Thanks for sharing your insights on this one!

Butch