A great upgrade from a VG coin I got off eBay. I got this from a Mobile dealer at the second annual Foley, AL coin show. Large date variety, without hole in ear.

I purchased this off eBay - probably paid a bit too much for it, but I could tell it was a nice one and this date seems to be a bit of a challenge in the late date series.

Subsequently (actually, much later,) I sent it into Bob Grellman for attribution. The VF20+ grade was a bonus. Turned out to be N5, which I would have recognized if I had looked for the obverse die cracks! They're not that noticeable unless you know where to look.

I got this from a gentleman who advertised a bunch of late dates for sale in PennyWise. It was priced right, and this one exceeded my expectations. Always nice when that happens.

A nice coin that was part of a group lot in the EAC 2005 auction. A friend of mine purchased the lot, and this coin was part of it. One of the Petite Head varieties.

The above mumbo-jumbo stands for "Petite Head, Small Letters Reverse". The Petite Head was a transitional head type for 1843, recognized by the head being tipped over to the left. The Mature Head would debut later in the year and would be used on all cents through 1857. A nice cent from the Evan Kopald collection.

One of the later, "Mature Head" varieties of 1843. A nice example I purchased from a new EAC member, and a tough R4 variety.

A nice coin I got at EAC 2003 from a very well-known copper dealer. I liked it because of the woodgrain effect on the reverse, caused by an impure alloy.

A nice coin that was part of a group lot in the EAC 2005 auction. A friend of mine purchased the lot, and this coin was part of it. Probably the best coin in the lot.

I got this off eBay, using "Buy it Now". This is the last date I needed for a complete set of large cents by date, 1793 - 1857! I figured I probably paid too much for it (not a great picture, but I could tell it was a decent VF,) but when I came to attribute it I got a nice surprise. It had die lines inside of the "N" in "ONE", making it either a N8 (R1) or N10 (R5-). Of course I figured it was N8, but the date was in the exact position as specified by Bob Grellman's book for an N10. This was confirmed later by two EAC gurus. Nice accidental cherry-pick - my first (and probably only) rare late date variety.

For some reason, for 1846 we have the Small Date, Medium Date, and Tall Date varieties. Why it's not called a "Large Date" variety, I don't know. Or perhaps, the Tall and Short Date, Tall and Squat Date, Upright and Leaning 6, Abbott and Costello, etc. Granted, the date is quite tall and barely fits in the space assigned for it. This coin was purchased from the Evan Kopald catalog, and it followed a very nice 1846 N12 Tall Date in MS63 that Evan noted as one of his favorites; a celebrity if you will. This specimen, a VF, Evan write: "Here we go from a celebrity, seen in every scene in a movie, to a walk-on with no lines." Rather amusing I thought, and I'm glad to provide this possibly underappreciated cent a new home!

A nice eBay purchase (from an EAC buddy.) More uncommon than the N12. The base of the 1 in the date is repunched. This coin was part of the Sam Thurman collection.

The 1847/7 (1847 over small 7) is more famous than this variety, but all four digits in the date are repunched. Doesn't get much better than that for a late date, especially for attribution purposes. (Bob Grellman I am not.) Plus, hey, it's a neat, underrated (in my opinion) variety.

The famous "7 over small 7" Redbook variety. It's listed as R3, but I doubt if it's actually scarce. A neat variety though with a large 7 punched over a small 7. (The 4 is also repunched on this variety, which isn't commonly known.) A nice coin I purchased off eBay.

I got this from an EAC dealer. I didn't know the variety at the time but subsequently determined that it was an N6. Nice coin. These are tough to attribute, especially when there are so many different varieties!

A nice coin I purchased from an EAC buddy off his fixed price list. The 7 over medium 7 is clear, and the 8 is also repunched and clear on this example. I'd been trying to find one of these for a long time, and an opportunity finally came along. A rare variety R5.

I originally had an N-27 of this date that I purchased from a local dealer, cheap. It wasn't attributed at the time. This year was the second-to-last variety I needed for a complete date set of large cents. (Not knowing the variety at the time, I sent it into Bob Grellman; it came back F15+, N27.)

Much later, I purchased this better example for the date, an N20, from an EAC guy who advertised a few coins for sale. It has the 4 and last 8 in the date repunched.

I bought this from Rod Burress (membership chairman of EAC) when I vacationed in Cincinnati. Not my specialty, but a nice, choice coin and great for a date set that I eventually want to start for the later dates. Rod says that this came out of some Superior auction in the late 1990's.

I got this from Sonny Gilbert at the first annual Foley, AL show. It was unattributed, and I didn't get a chance to attribute it until about a year later. With Bob Grellman's help, I found out this is an N5, which is scarce.

As the 1794 Sheldon-63 is sometimes referred to as the "Drunken Diecutter's Obverse," I call this one the "Drunken Datesinker's Obverse." It appears the first 1 in the date was lightly punched three times until they finally got it right the fourth time (evidence of two bottom serifs are present below the 1, and another is found bisecting the 1.) Furthermore, the bottom of yet another "1" can be found centered between the 8 and the last 1 in the date. This variety is also known for some pretty heavy obverse die filing, which manifests itself as what looks like Liberty's face, throat and neck have undergone acupuncture. A nice example I purchased from an EAC gentleman off of eBay, unattributed.

A nice coin, and came with a Grellman card as 35, net 25+, obverse marks and scratches. I see a few marks, but I'll be darned if there are any scratches. Anyway, if Bob says it's a 25+, it's AT LEAST that by any other standard. Great color on this one. (I got it from an EAC member.)

An eBay coin I purchased from an EAC member. It came with a Grellman card showing that Robbie Brown was a former owner. A nice coin with a slight woodgrain effect on the obverse.

I got this from an EAC buddy who was helping me in completing a date set. I paid a premium for this one; it has a prominent cud on the obverse. Cuds are not at all common on late dates. In the Robbie Brown III auction catalog, it states that, as cuds go, this is a "common" one, but that probably fewer than 100 specimens exist with the cud. (This is the only late date that I have with a cud, anyway.)

I got this from Sonny Gilbert (seems like I got a lot of my late dates from him) at the inaugural GCNA show. Nice, problem-free Fine.

A neat coin with the 5 and 3 in the date recut. Another Sonny Gilbert purchase.

The only late date I got at the 2nd annual GCNA show. As of this writing I need two dates to complete a late date set - 1846 and 1848. Neither should be too tough to find, I hope. (As it turns out, the 1848 and 1846 did come soon after.)

Just a nice example that (I think) came from eBay. Great surfaces, and I already had an 1855 slanted 55 at the time, so this is a nice companion.

Pretty common variety, but probably the most popular, due to the "knob" die cud that forms on Liberty's ear. Some examples have no knob, some have a full knob, and others, like this eBay purchase, have a partial knob just beginning to form, making this a medium die state.

Another Sonny Gilbert purchase, at the first GCNA show. Slant 5 variety, and attractive for the grade.

I had purchased one of these on eBay awhile back - never really liked it and sold it back on eBay a bit later. This example is much better! It's in an NGC AU58 holder (probably would rate an EAC AU50.) Super-sharp early die state coin, with a hint of red. A Jules Reiver coin.

A nice example of the tougher Small Date variety (compared to the Large Date variety.) The N4 is slightly more common than the other Small Date variety, N2. I purchased this at EAC '03.