My first Indian head penny and boy is she a beauty..

[DownEast_Detecting]

Found this just off the old Main Street at my abandoned town site where there was a community from 1800-1940. . I know people find these all the time but I was pretty excited. I see they come in a bold N and shallow N varieties. Can someone chime and tell me which mine is. I looked up pics of both but couldn?t really come to a conclusion. After seeing a few my friend dug in Maine. I think mine is in pretty decent condition. Well compared to the ones he has dug it?s in amazing condition.. lol

 

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[thursdaythunder]

Congratulations on your first IHP! That's a beauty, I can sympathize with your Maine buddy ..lots of crusty ihp's up here
Also great job with the pic post - looks awesome !

 

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[RussM]

Indians have always been one of my favorites... and yours is a beauty! Congrats on finding an IHP in a condition that is about as good as it gets!

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[sandchip]

It took several before I found one in even decent condition, yet nowhere nearly as nice as yours. Superb example!

 

[Tpmetal]

I have dug easily over a hundred indians..... I don't think any of them have come out looking as good as your coin!

 

[pepperj]

Dug a few, but only a one really sticks in the mind like wow! That's nice!

Can't beat that shape, and being a first well you got a really sweet one at that, congrats.

Now I'm thinking one of those 2x2 cardboard flip coin holders and 3 staples will keep that one nice for many moons.

 

[Argentium]

Beautiful coin ! My first and only IH ( so far) was barely identifiable .

 

[beetle662]

She's a beauty! Congrats!

 

[jewelerguy]

oh man that's really nice. probably worth 300 to 400 bucks in that condition

 

[WannaDig3687]

I would be excited, also! Congrats!

 

[DownEast_Detecting]

That's a fantastic Indian Head Cent! Low mintage year (but you know that already, I'm sure).
It looks like the Bold N version to me.

Congratulations to you!

- Brian

Thanks Brian, and thanks for giving your opinion on bold vs shallow.

Congratulations on your first IHP! That's a beauty, I can sympathize with your Maine buddy ..lots of crusty ihp's up here
Also great job with the pic post - looks awesome !

Thanks, and yeah I?m from Maine too! My buddy isn?t on here. I was referencing his IHP?s that I?ve seen in person. Most you couldn?t even make out what they were. So I was super pumped to find this one. He was pretty jealous.

oh man that's really nice. probably worth 300 to 400 bucks in that condition

But it?s a dug coin, so it?s not really worth anything right? I haven?t tried to clean it yet. Only toothpicked off the dirt. And apparently I shouldn?t clean it right? So I wouldn?t be able to sell it to a coin expert or get it graded? Some guy at a coin shop told me there is no way to clean coins. And almost all dug coins are worthless. I didn?t have this IHP yet, so wasn?t able to show him. Is he a novice or speaking some truth?



Thank you everyone! It?s not only my first IHP it?s my first non clad modern coin found. So really my first coin dug period. I didn?t realize it was in this good of condition though, judging by the reply?s.

 

[brianc053]

...
But it?s a dug coin, so it?s not really worth anything right? I haven?t tried to clean it yet. Only toothpicked off the dirt. And apparently I shouldn?t clean it right? So I wouldn?t be able to sell it to a coin expert or get it graded? Some guy at a coin shop told me there is no way to clean coins. And almost all dug coins are worthless. I didn?t have this IHP yet, so wasn?t able to show him. Is he a novice or speaking some truth?

PLEASE don't clean it any further. Allow me to explain...

After you posted about your beauty I went back to my 2020-2021 collection, and over the last 2 years I've found thirteen (13) Indian Head Cents. None are in the condition of yours.
But out of the 13 coins, I've ruined three of them by trying to clean them and I was doing it gently with an Andre's pencil (the steel wool one). When I say 'gently' I mean very soft slow small swirls of the pencil (steel wool tip) on the coin while watching carefully under a magnifying glass, in an attempt to "clean" some very small amounts of dirt from some of the letters or from around the dates. On 2 of the 3 the date went from being legible (with dirt around it) to illegible in a matter of moments. It was like, "where did the date go?!?"

I think that the patina on these Indian Head Cents is so delicate that any interaction with it can cause it to flake away. I'm no expert and welcome an expert's further input; I'm just sharing my own personal experience.

Personal note: My son participates sometimes in my metal detecting, and he now says to me any time I find an Indian Head "Dad, DO NOT TOUCH IT - you will destroy it" and I'm afraid he may be right.

Your coin is beautiful. My suggestion: Lock it away and don't touch it again.

As for value, I've heard what you've heard: any coin dug up from the earth is labeled as having "environmental damage" or similar annotation, and therefore a serious coin collector wouldn't buy it. BUT - there are plenty of amateurs who only want coins for the appearance, and - (repeating myself) your coin is beautiful. You'd find a buyer if you wanted to sell it (but maybe for a fraction of book value).

Hope these opinions help.

- Brian

 

[jewelerguy]

Some guy at a coin shop told me there is no way to clean coins. And almost all dug coins are worthless.

Sorry, but your "some guy at a coin shop" is a moron. Just because a coin has been dug does not mean it's worthless. Many collectors would be willing to buy that coin to fill a slot in their collection. It is in beautiful condition and is valuable as I've already stated. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

[CRUSADER]

Sorry, but you're "some guy at a coin shop" is a moron. Just because a coin has been dug does not mean it's worthless. Many collectors would be willing to buy that coin to fill a slot in their collection. It is in beautiful condition and is valuable as I've already stated. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

agreed

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

DownEast - great job!
Sweet coin!
My first IH Cent was dug in Connecticut,
at my Bro-in-law's place....

 

[DownEast_Detecting]

Sorry, but you're "some guy at a coin shop" is a moron. Just because a coin has been dug does not mean it's worthless. Many collectors would be willing to buy that coin to fill a slot in their collection. It is in beautiful condition and is valuable as I've already stated. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

agreed

Ok noted. I?m no expert, that?s why I come here. Any input on it being a bold N or shallow N? I?m also just wondering how to value a dug coin. Looking at the red book....

As the liberty seems to be in great shape, I could see it falling into the 300-400 dollar range. But because of it being dug or having environmental damage I would think you would have to deduct value. Just wondering how you gave it that value. Or is it just an educated guess through your knowledge. Again I?m no expert, and probably would never sell it since it?s my first coin. But wondering for future coin finds. Like can I look it up in the book, get a general range, then subtract X for environment damage. Or is your valuation just from experience. Thank you

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

A big congrats on finding your first Indian Cent !

As most would agree ... finding Indian's is always a thrill !

 

[CRUSADER]

Ok noted. I?m no expert, that?s why I come here. Any input on it being a bold N or shallow N? I?m also just wondering how to value a dug coin. Looking at the red book....

As the liberty seems to be in great shape, I could see it falling into the 300-400 dollar range. But because of it being dug or having environmental damage I would think you would have to deduct value. Just wondering how you gave it that value. Or is it just an educated guess through your knowledge. Again I?m no expert, and probably would never sell it since it?s my first coin. But wondering for future coin finds. Like can I look it up in the book, get a general range, then subtract X for environment damage. Or is your valuation just from experience. Thank you

Of course a dug coin is worth much less than the book value of it's grade. I only have experience in UK dug coins not US, but it all depends on rarity & competition for it at the time of sale ie. It's market worth at any particular time. (on ebay for example, that can change weekly)
My point was it has a market value & it's not zero like suggested to you.

 

[Megalodon]

Congrats on a nice find! I've dug at least a hundred Indian cents over the decades and that is about as nice as they get. By coincidence, my best one was also dated 1871 and also had that attractive green patina. I believe the patina is protective and trying to remove it or clean the coin will not have positive results.

 

[JeffInMass]

First off, Congrats for finding your first Indian- it'll be hard to beat that one unless you find an 1877 in the same condition- hope there's many more ahead for you! My opinion is it's the Bold N variety. I would not touch it again as far as cleaning- it's in amazing shape and I can't see any benefit from further attempts at cleaning. Lastly, that's a very high grade coin and yes, if you had it slabbed, I can promise you PCGS would label it Environmental damage, but, having said that, I can also promise you it would sell and for 3 figures- there would absolutely be a market for that coin. Whatever you choose to do with it, it is a tremendous find and kudos to you!