Post
by Bill in Burl » Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:54 am
Both of your coins are "narrow 9" 1859's, although the first one is what Zoell called a "bold 9". Bold 9's are ID'd by the tail or knob of the 5 & 9 almost touching the upper loop or vertical. You should try to pick up a 2011 Charlton guide, as the variety section in the back is for Large Cents this edition (every year for the last 5 there is a huge variety section in the rear with a different denomination for each edition). There are over 200 varieties of the 1859, counting marriage pairs.... there may be a die catalogue for the 59's out sometime in the next year or so. The only real refernces now are Jack Griffin's 1992 book on Large Cents of N America (no pictures), Hans Zoell's books on varieties (all denominations) from the alte 1960's. Charlton published an updated edition of Griffin's book this last year with some photos, but there are many many errors with the matching of the photos and the descriptions ... be very careful using the Charlton reprint until a corrected edition comes out.
Bill in Burl