Posted 13 years ago
jvrignani
(1 item)
I know that this coin is not supposed to exist, but I cannot see any tool marks on the second "1" that is supposed to be an altered "4".
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Even without noticable toolmarks, it is definitely an altered 1845 Braided Hair Large Cent. Take a look at the curls under the neck truncation. They end just above the 8. This is a feature of the "mature head" braided hair produced from 1843 until the large cent ended in 1857.
Another telling feature is the protruding eyebrow, earlier dated large cents didn't have this. Also look at the positioning of stars 5 and 6 in relation to the tip of Liberty's tiara. This positioning is also only found on the "mature head" braided hair large cents from 1843 until 1857.
During the 19th century, people didn't know that the 1815 didn't exist. They just thought it was rare since they had never seen one. When the large cent ended in 1857, the number of people collecting them mushroomed. I'm guessing that sometime after that, someone probably created this coin to sell to an unsuspecting collector.
One more thing, if still in doubt, flip the coin over and look at the letters for ONE CENT. The 1843 to 1857 large cent had larger letters for the words ONE CENT than earlier dated large cents.
Thank you!