Recent Finds; 1 park, 2 fairgrounds; Help?

[Dug]

These were found two different days, today and last Thursday; I stopped on my way home from working in small communities, one in ND and two in MN.

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What are the measley bumps on the 1888 Indian head? Is there any way to get them off? And is there a faint "7" next to the last 8?

 

[crow-duck]

n/t

 

[PULLTABBY]

From past experiences with pennies your best bet is to have a professional check it out if you think it is a key date. It's to hard to tell from a photo on the Internet. Cleaning coins can bring down the value quite a bit... use caution and only soap and a tooth brush should be used at the beginning to try to determine any numismatic value if any
Very nice finds and HH

 

[MassSandman]

n/t

 

[therick]

The "Red Book" is the coin collectors bible. Some Indian head pennies in 1888 were over stamped with the last 8 stamped over a 7. These are very rare and worth about 500.00 in poor condition. If you think that you may have one, be EXTREMELY careful with trying to clean it. Cleaning coins with certain chemical agents will severely reduce the value of a coin. Mild soap and a very soft bristled toothbrush and even then use it very lightly. If you can confirm that it is in fact a 1888/7 Indian head cent, you need to send it to ANACS and have it "slabbed". They are recognized as the authority in authenticating rare coins. Good luck and I can't wait to see if it's the real thing.

therick

 

[MARK (LI)]

I cannot find my 2006 red book, but the 2005 edition shows that coin almost exactly as yours appears with the 7...DO NOT CLEAN THAT COIN AT ALL....IN THE 2005 BOOK IT IS SHOWING WORTH AT LEAST $900.00... In G4 condition

 

[therick]

n/t

 

[James N.D.]

You sure have a lucky streak going on everywhere you go, that is for certain. Nice 1923 Merc! Those bubbles on the Indian are there to stay unfortunately. Something in the ground is eating away at them and that is what happens to some of the older coins. Looks like you may have a couple new spots to detect at. Great looking coins and I wish you continued success. Good Luck and HH.

 

[PULLTABBY]

In 1969, Jim Ruddy stunned the numismatic world with the discovery of an 1888/7 overdate. A small portion of the 7 is visible under the left half of the final 8 of the date, inside the upper loop, and protruding from the upper left edge of the top loop. Various Die States exist; for example, Die State B has a large rim cud on the obverse above TE of UNITED. Only two Uncirculated examples are known of the overdate, both of which were discovered by Ruddy! One example, graded MS-64 Brown by NGC is illustrated below. A second example graded MS-63 Red and Brown by PCGS appeared in Superior Stamp & Coin's February 1999 "Juan XII Suros" sale, where it realized an astonishing $40,250.

 

[Dug]

The 1888 Indian looks to be in pretty good shape, but has the measles and the last two 8's are obscure along with the "C" and "A" of AMERICA, which seem to be completely missing. There is also a scratch through the A at the 10 o'clock position. I'll check further into getting this coin evaluated.

The 1923 Merc is surprisingly nice. I was hunting after dark when it sounded forth. I dug up three rusty nails before finding it.

Thanks again, all of you for your assistance, accolades, and advice. Very much appreciated.

I do have the 2007 Red Book, and saw the photo in it of the 1888 with the faint "7" beside it. I still don't understand what it means.
The illustration is hard to interpret and the explanation is inadequate.

I was out today for about 4 hours and besides a few clad coins and modern pennies, I found only 1 wheat penny. A bad day. But the weather was great.

Doug