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On 5/20/2022 at 5:52 PM, F350Platinum said:

I have an 1858 somewhere, when I posted it it had no date but it also had no shield.

If it's an Indian Head I assume you mean 1859 -- the only IHC date without the shield.  Although the three Flying Eagle Cents (1856-58) also had a no shield reverse, their wreath was different so the 1859 reverse is the only year for that design.

1883 Liberty nickel started without the 'V' reverse but changed mid-year.  (Correction:  The Roman numeral 'V' was on every one, but the word 'CENTS' was added in the middle of the inaugural year production to thwart gold coating for the purpose of passing them off as $ pieces.)  1913 Buffalo nickel also had a reverse design change during the first year.  (If you can see the mintmark location on the Buffies then you know the issue.)  There are earlier coin designs which had similar features unique to a single year.

Interesting that sometimes even when the date isn't visible it can be inferred from the design.

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14 minutes ago, schoolofhardNox said:

It may be an Flying Eagle if you don't see anything on it to ID it being an Indian head.

I've never dug a Flying Eagle, although it would certainly be possible. I believe this is an Indian Head because it looks like a headdress. 🙂 I should try the peroxide sometime, these corroded coins are pretty worthless. 

 

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13 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

If it's an Indian Head I assume you mean 1859 -- the only IHC date without the shield.  Although the three Flying Eagle Cents (1856-58) also had a no shield reverse, their wreath was different so the 1859 reverse is the only year for that design.

1883 Liberty nickel started without the 'V' reverse but changed mid-year.  1913 Buffalo nickel also had a reverse design change during the first year.  (If you can see the mintmark location on the Buffies then you know the issue.)  There are earlier coin designs which had similar features unique to a single year.

Interesting that sometimes even when the date isn't visible it can be inferred from the design.

Yes, my bad, thanks. The Wikipedia page said designed in 1858 😵 that's what I get for enthusiastic research. 😀

At least it's an early one. I'm sure this fall there will be many more. Don't want to damage the corn. There is a field right next to the house that has very old buttons and coins, it's a lot of ground to cover. Haven't been on the other side yet but that should prove fruitful as well.

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2 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

Yes, my bad, thanks. The Wikipedia page said designed in 1858 😵 that's what I get for enthusiastic research. 😀

At least it's an early one. I'm sure this fall there will be many more. Don't want to damage the corn. There is a field right next to the house that has very old buttons and coins, it's a lot of ground to cover. Haven't been on the other side yet but that should prove fruitful as well.

I thought you found this one. If you ever want to see some real cool stuff, Google Judd patterns of US coinage. There are all kinds of early designs that were patterns and not officially part of the series.

1858 indian.jpg

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11 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

I've never dug a Flying Eagle, although it would certainly be possible. I believe this is an Indian Head because it looks like a headdress. 🙂 I should try the peroxide sometime, these corroded coins are pretty worthless. 

 

Yep, I can see the headdress now that I take a better look at it. You can do the peroxide cold as well as hot, but I like to see the bubbles, 😄 so I nuke the peroxide for about 10 seconds.

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6 minutes ago, schoolofhardNox said:

I thought you found this one. If you ever want to see some real cool stuff, Google Judd patterns of US coinage. There are all kinds of early designs that were patterns and not officially part of the series.

1858 indian.jpg

If there's only one with no shield in the wreath, I thought that was a '59. 🤔🤪 Now I'm confused. The one I mentioned that I dug previously had no date on it and it had no shield. 

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1 minute ago, F350Platinum said:

If there's only one with no shield in the wreath, I thought that was a '59. 🤔🤪 Now I'm confused. The one I mentioned that I dug previously had no date on it and it had no shield. 

Don't be confused 😳 The 1858 is a pattern piece you will probably never find. I was just messing with you about finding an 1858 Indian.  There is an 1868 Large Cent as well as an 1868 V nickel, plus countless other patterns. Really interesting stuff.

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19 minutes ago, schoolofhardNox said:

I thought you found this one. If you ever want to see some real cool stuff, Google Judd patterns of US coinage. There are all kinds of early designs that were patterns and not officially part of the series.

1858 indian.jpg

Now that would be a find of a lifetime!  Interestingly the 1856 Flying Eagle Cent was a pattern, with a mintage estimate at 1500 (according to Red Book).  It's quite a valuable coin (well into the 4+ figures even in merely Good condition) in its own right.  (I've read that Tom Dankowski actually found an 1856, then sold it, when he was a teenager.  That explains his lifelong passion for the hobby!)

Most patterns were unique.  The 1856 FE was handed out to the US Congress among other dignitaries.  (The 1974? aluminum Lincoln Cent was another multi-issue pattern handed out to Congress with the stipulation they all be returned.  Some weren't....)  If you find one of these I think it has to be forfeited to the US Treasury or strict (feloneous) penalties will result.  😲

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