1870 Ihp Value?

[Michael H]

Any idea on grading or value? Found metal detecting 

[Doc Bach]

That's a sharp lookin featherhead.... Very little wear, and at first glance excellent detail! And that beautiful and pleasing olive green patina that we all yearn for.Thanks for sharing.

DB.

[JCR]

That one is in pretty high condition. Full Liberty.   You should get a good illustrated coin book/guide. They are a wonderful educational resource.

[jawbone]

Just don't try to clean it other than maybe soap and water. It has fine details and if there's no 

reverse damage it's worth a fair amount.

[Michael H]

Thank you! The reverse is in the same condition. Is it true that places won't grade dig coins? 

[GB_Amateur]

For grading, this site is the standard:  https://www.pcgs.com/photograde#/Indian/Grades  Grading requires both sides (obverse and reverse) to be evaluated.

For evaluation, prices realized (sold items, not ones up for current sale) on Ebay is the best place, IMO.  Here's one that is somewhat comparable to yours:  https://tinyurl.com/33hw56ad

Those are the easy answers.  As far as professional grading, yes, often they either won't give a grade or they give one with qualifications.

Regarding cleaning, the best answer for those who don't want to reduce/ruin the value is:

1) determine if the coin (date + mintmark + condition) puts it in the valuable range.  (Yours clearly does -- scarce date AND excellent condition).

2) if answer to 1 is "yes", and the higher it is, the less you should be inclined to be in a hurry to clean it.  Although water seems like a benign solvent, in fact it's not for coins containing a lot of copper (such as your Indian Head Cent).  Cleaning coins is one of those areas where people want to give advice, but where that advice, although well-intended, is usually detrimental.  Coin collectors can be extremely picky when it comes to surface condition.  Something as simple as rubbing with a cotton cloth will scratch the surface which can easily be seen under magnification.  Typical dirt is an abrasive.  Even those pencils are in fact abrasive (and the manufacturers tell you that in the advertising, or at least with some digging into fine-print).

My bottom line advice:  don't do any cleaning until you've researched deeply into what will do the least harm.  The idea is to improve the value by cleaning, but that is usually the opposite of what occurs, particularly for high copper content coins.

Great find, BTW.  😉

 

[Rick N. MI]

I've sold dug silver coins I dug at 10" and they could believe it came out of the ground.

They have value out of the ground. Some dealers can tell it's been in the ground and that can affect grading.

[markinswpa]

On 8/27/2023 at 11:29 PM, jawbone said:

Just don't try to clean it other than maybe soap and water. It has fine details and if there's no 

reverse damage it's worth a fair amount.

No no. No water on old copper ever. It will in just  about every case leave you with a rusty red looking coin. Toothbrush, toothpick, a little nose oil will do great. Mark

[markinswpa]

On 8/27/2023 at 8:25 PM, Michael H said:

Any idea on grading or value? Found metal detecting 

Very crisp Ihp. Congrats,  nice save. Coinbook shows it t be worth 75 to 150 bucks. To me it would be a priceless find so I wouldn't bother to have it graded. But thats just me. I don't sell anything. Good luck. Mark

[Doc Bach]

I've had that very same affliction for going on sixty years now.Anybody out there interested in buying 500+Horseshoes?😂