1794 Liberty cap lettered edge QUESTION

[cannonball]

I found this 1794 liberty cap lettered edge
I know there are many varieties and I am unsure which one this is.
Is there anyone more educated on these coins that might be able to give me further insight as to what it is exactly? should it be graded/slabbed?
Any help would be appreciated
As of now the coin has only been gently rinsed with distilled water
Dave-

 

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[Jose The Goon]

Be careful with that baby. There is a very rare variety of the 1794 Cent that has many little stars around the edge of the reverse side. (See Photo)
After enlarging your photos, it seems like those little stars might be present under the "UNI" of UNITED, where detail is the clearest. Can't tell on the rest
of the reverse because of condition. Look closely with a high-powered magnifier. If you think yours is the "Stars" variety, contact PCGS and ask them what they think you should do. As "smokeythecat" says in his post, PCGS now has a "cleaning" or "restoration" service. I would call or email them
nonetheless, no matter what variety you have, before you mail it off somewhere. Good luck & extremely nice find.
Photo of 1794 L.Cent with "stars":

 

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[Jose The Goon]

Sorry "cannonball". Here's another photo. As you can see, the little "stars" are not everywhere. Some spots on the edge don't have the stars. So look closely
at the reverse. The latest "COIN WORLD" lists the "Starrred Reverse" variety @$30,000 in AG-3 condition (About Good). In F-12 condition (Fine), it's valued @ 75G.
Best wishes.

 

[CRUSADER]

Absolutely beautiful coin. Great find! I may be in the minority, but I wouldn't send it for grading OR conservation. I don't have a lot of confidence in their conservation. An early copper expert could do a much better job. Once something is done to the coin it won't come back to what you have. It's beautiful as it is. Advanced copper collectors collect coins, not plastic slabs.

Although I'm no expert on '94's, it somewhat resembles a S-31. The diagnostic being the lower hair curl. What yours doesn't have is the the die chips in the left obverse field. It's possible your piece is an earlier die state before the chips appeared, but as someone without the expertise in 1794's this is just conjecture. Great coin.

1794 Large Cent - Sheldon 31

View attachment 1559092 View attachment 1559093

I agree, you can get it cleaned anywhere without getting it slabbed. No rush for conservation as its not going to get any worse, but if worried about it drying out, just stick some Museum Wax on it. (totally reversible)

 

[park pirate]

Awesome detail on that coin congrats brother...

 

[doninbrewster]

Be careful with that baby. There is a very rare variety of the 1794 Cent that has many little stars around the edge of the reverse side. (See Photo)
After enlarging your photos, it seems like those little stars might be present under the "UNI" of UNITED, where detail is the clearest. Can't tell on the rest
of the reverse because of condition. Look closely with a high-powered magnifier. If you think yours is the "Stars" variety, contact PCGS and ask them what they think you should do. As "smokeythecat" says in his post, PCGS now has a "cleaning" or "restoration" service. I would call or email them
nonetheless, no matter what variety you have, before you mail it off somewhere. Good luck & extremely nice find.
Photo of 1794 L.Cent with "stars":
View attachment 1559288

Sorry, but it's not even close to a S-48, the Starred Reverse variety. There is only one obverse with the S-48 and it is completely different.

 

[washingtonian]

Holy frickin' smokes. Just looked up how much this coin is worth. Take a vacation!!

 

[Relicific]

She’s a looker.
Congrats

 

[Jose The Goon]

Sorry, but it's not even close to a S-48, the Starred Reverse variety. There is only one obverse with the S-48 and it is completely different.

Yes, there are distinct differences. I pasted "cannonball's" photo next to an S-48 image from this site: 1794 1C Starred Reverse, BN (Regular Strike) - PCGS CoinFacts It's interesting that " there are nearly 60 different sub-varieties within these 4 major classes! " (from this site):
https://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/101/large-cents/liberty-cap/1794-P/all-varieties/


I would leave the coin as is & be sure to find out what the exact variety is. Other posters
here have valid opinions as to restoring or not restoring. Making further inquiries & getting
different opinions before altering the coin in any way is always a sound path to take.
It's unfortunate that the reverse isn't in the condition of the obverse. It is really a great looking coin from the second year of the U.S. Mint. Lot's of experimenting with designs back then. Coin could even be "unigue" in it's own right. Best wishes "cannonball".
Thanks for sharing your great find. Keep us posted!

 

[sutphin]

I GOT ONE AND YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY>NICE FIND