My first 1812 cent was a S-288 that I got from one of the early online auction sites, before eBay became popular. Ten years later, I finally found a nice coin to upgrade to (which did come off eBay.) The scarcest 1812 variety.

A nice coin that showed up on eBay one day with a "Buy it Now" option. The one I had at the time was in definite need of an upgrade, so I was happy to find this one. Easy to attribute, as the top leaf of the wreath is well right of "S". In a SEGS holder labeled "F12, Choice Surfaces". (I call it Avg+!)

I got this one off of eBay - I was the only bidder on it. It's cracked out of an ANACS holder, graded VG8. Surprised they didn't discount for an obvious cleaning, but this should retone in time. This one has a few small hairlines visible with a glass, but otherwise very nice.

The second example I've owned, and this was an eBay purchase. The first is described below and had minor problems that bothered me, so this present piece was a slight condition upgrade.

A friend of mine found this for me at the EAC 2001 convention. It's the last 1812 I needed and one of two coins I needed to complete a set of Classic Head cents. This seems to be a more elusive variety than one would guess.