A group of 1858 Indian Head Pennies

[go-rebels]

Not a ground find but a mystery to me nonetheless, I picked these up at an estate auction near Asheville, NC at the site of a very old house. I've looked at them under a stereomicroscope and I can't see any tooling around the date; they appear to be original. These pennies were in an ancient cigar box with a bunch of other mid-19th century American coins.

Check your Redbook; I've never seen this date as an Indian Head cent before.

 

[Larry (IL)]

Two possibilities come to mind, one, counterfeits and the other are Mint samples tried that year to come up with the production cents the following year. They might be worth submitting to the pros for further evaluation.......

 

[Dave~UT]

According to Richard Snow(Flying Eagle and Indian Cents) 50 to 75 sets of 12 coins were produced that year. More sets were struck for collectors possibly as late as 1860. The sets included Flying Eagle and Indian head cents of various patterns. You are one lucky dude to come across these.

 

[go-rebels]

Oh, look at the reverses. One is different than the other three.

 

[Larry (IL)]

Good eye.......it sure is. What slays me is they look to be taken from circulation.

 

[Robert Szabo]

Someone is trying to sell a mint condition one on Ebay for 2500.00

http://cgi.ebay.com/1858-INDIAN-HEAD-CENT-PCGS-PR58-RARE-PATTERN-COIN-_W0QQitemZ230411216501QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20091213?IMSfp=TL091213013008r11507

also interesting page here about them

http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/awards/SigSetWinners/BestOverallSignatureSet/List-SignatureSet222-1858PatternCents.htm

 

[go-rebels]

Very interesting... thanks for the links!

I took the set to a (previously) reputable coin dealer at a local flea market that I knew from previous dealings. He claimed the lot to be counterfeit. Given the history behind them, I believe them to be genuine.

 

[Bob in SoMd]

Think I'd have to send one to PCGS for a ruling.

 

[Old Katz]

If someone went to the trouble of keeping them in that cigar
box then those pennies must have been significant to them....maybe of value?

Glad you could recover them from that estate sale.
Katz

 

[go-rebels]

The owner appeared to be a pack-rat. He saved old newspapers, books, cancelled checks, etc. I believe he thought 'everthing' was significant!

 

[dirtdigginlady]

Well this link seems to prove that a few do indeed exist. So you may have 4 very valuable coins.

 

[mtksas]

I just looked in coin worlds coin values dated December 2009 volume 7 # 12 page 34
It says,1858 were flying eagle cents, nothing about IH till 1859.
They sure look real to me.Like Larry said send one to the pros

 

[go-rebels]

I took the lot to the South Carolina coin convention in Spartanburg a few weeks back.

Consensus = Genuine circulated patterns!

 

[dave5710]

Awesome, What is your next step? Will your have them graded?

 

[ronaldj2]

I wouldn't send anything to anyone, I would be present with the pro if at all possible. The pennies sure look like the real thing, and they look like they 've been in circulation, at least for a little while. The penny in the top pic heads up , bottom row looks as if someone scratched it with a pin or a sewing needle maybe trying to clean something off of it.

 

[go-rebels]

Awesome, What is your next step? Will your have them graded?

I grade them as "circulated". That's sufficient for me!

No, I won't have them slabbed unless I go to sell them, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. When that time comes I don't want to hear all the claims that they are probably fake...

 

[Gonehunting]

how lucky is that...... ? by the way there is a new casino in my county, care to come up i'll spot you a benjamin.....lol

 

[go-rebels]

Recently confirmed... all pennies are genuine patterns!

 

[bunker314]

Thanks for the update. They sure are sweet! Good luck with what ever direction you take.
HH
Bunker

 

[go-rebels]

Thanks Bunker! To me they're as good as gold, and we may all need some of that in the future.