Coin Varieties

[sjv]

lol It's so funny,cuz before I started Detecting I did'nt even know what a large cent was or any older coins for that matter below the early 1900's. Then I start finding out that there are multiple varieties for alot of older coins. For example, Look at this 1839 &quot:beerbuddy:ooby Head I found awhile back. Did the word booby even exist back then? :confused: :embarrassed: See what I mean by one side being better. Seems like the side facing down is always better. Actually the back is better , it's my editing program thats not that great. Anyone know of a really good one. I'm just using the kodak software fom my camera.

[Cheap Thrills]

Your picture's look good to me . thumbsup01 Never heard the term booby head used as a reference to a coin before :confused: . Couldn't tell if they used that term way back when (as I wasn't there ) :huh: .

Baba

[sjv]

The term originates from the 1800's for the coin, meaning Lady Liberty has a an idiots expression on her face. In the Red Book of coin values it refers to her shoulder being exposed. The other coins show her curls covering her shoulder. Also there is no line under One Cent on the back of the coin. Before 1800's it mostly meant an idiot. :cheesysmile: That was a strangest reseach I've done on any coin lol lol.

[sjv]

:) No problem. I always use the Red Book or a major auction site. I look at the Red Book to gauge the pricing on the on-line sites or when I'm in the field MD'ing .

[sjv]

Anyone else have a 1839 large cent? I'd like to compare mine to others.

[coinnut]

Anyone else have a 1839 large cent? I'd like to compare mine to others.


I don't have one, well maybe I do, but not up here while I'm typing lol but in Breen's book, they say there are 10 varieties of the 1839 (Booby Head) Large Cent. Probably only minor differences since they didn't show them. Maybe Newcomb may list them, but I don't have his book, but most times the major varieties would only be listed. Try Googling that date, Booby Head, and the word varieties and see what comes up.

[sjv]

I only found 4 varieties of the 1839, well maybe 5: 1) 1839
over 1836, plain cords; 2) head of 1838, beaded cords; 3) 1839 booby head and the 4) silly head. The 5th is the 1839 coinnut head :happydance01:. rarely seen. Sorry bud, hope you can take a joke.

[coinnut]

I only found 4 varieties of the 1839, well maybe 5: 1) 1839
over 1836, plain cords; 2) head of 1838, beaded cords; 3) 1839 booby head and the 4) silly head. The 5th is the 1839 coinnut head :happydance01:. rarely seen. Sorry bud, hope you can take a joke.


I'd be honnered to be the 5th Booby Head Large Cent lol rofl Sal, Breen's Encyclopedia of US and Colonial Coins lists 10 varieties for just the Booby Head. There are more varieties for the whole 1839 series of cents. If you ever get a chance to get this book (expensive) do so, it opened up my eyes to just how many varieties there are out there. Even the pattern pieces will amaze you like the 1:dontknow:u]6:dontknow:/u] Large Cent 185:dontknow:/u] Indian head, 19[u]44 Steel Cent, 1863 2 Cent Piece, and many more unique designs. It's a really great book.

[sjv]

coinnut. I was on a website, I think it was coinfacts.com. Under the coin it shows newcomb varieties, thats how I found out which variety my CT. Copper was and also I used Del's book on Colonial coins. The thing is, especially with the CT. coppers, there are 350 varieties and it doesn't list prices. It juat say things like common, rare, scarce , very scarce etc.... So if one is common it should have a standard price range and if it's very scarce then there should be a different price range. Agree? Mine says scarce- very scarce, So does it make the coin worth more than the common ones? And where can prices be found other than the handful that the Red Book shows?

[coinnut]

coinnut. I was on a website, I think it was coinfacts.com. Under the coin it shows newcomb varieties, thats how I found out which variety my CT. Copper was and also I used Del's book on Colonial coins. The thing is, especially with the CT. coppers, there are 350 varieties and it doesn't list prices. It juat say things like common, rare, scarce , very scarce etc.... So if one is common it should have a standard price range and if it's very scarce then there should be a different price range. Agree? Mine says scarce- very scarce, So does it make the coin worth more than the common ones? And where can prices be found other than the handful that the Red Book shows?


Most reference books won't list prices, since they become out of date real fast. Every price is economy based. Whatever someone is willing to pay, that's what it's worth. That's why a 1909 S VDB penny can get such a high price while some lower mintage half dimes are worth much less. Scarce and very scarce sounds good to me lol Somewhere in the vastness of the Web, you should be able to find a site that will list how many are known to exist. Maybe it will be an auction site, coin dealers site, reference site....but somewhere it will be there. That is the only way to know. As for value? Past auctions will give you the closest value of a coin, providing they are recent (couple of years). Start Googling different word combinations and see what pops up Sal.