1872 1c PR RB

1872 Cent Production: These cents were struck in quantities similar to those of 1871. Aside from the 1877, this is the toughest date to find today. The planchets made from the recoinage melt were not of a consistent quality. Most coins of this date are streaky due to uneven alloy mixes. Many examples were poorly struck or are found with missing detail due to some liquid, such as machine oil or water, getting on the planchet or dies.

A minority of these coins was struck with the Shallow N reverse (see 1871). This is becoming a well-known design change that is increasing in value as specialists become more familiar with its existence.

Survivability: The ongoing recoinage effort created a crazy situation where the recently issued coinage was being sent back to the Mint to be melted and struck into new coins. As soon as the new coins reached the banks, many may have been piled on top of older coins that were scheduled to be shipped back to the Mint. As a result, most of this issue was melted soon after its production.

Examples that survived are usually very low-grade pieces. It is very diffcult to find problem-free coins. In the past, many examples in the Very Fine to Extremely Fine grades were wire-brushed to simulate mint luster. These whizzed coins were dangerous to collectors until the advent of certified grading. Many coins were ruined in the process of being whizzed.

Collecting Challenges: It is very diffcult to find attractive, problem-free examples. Most are poorly struck, or are struck through machine oil. Any attractive problem-free example should be considered for your collection. Some collectors target this date for investment potential. One Detroit collector, Carl Herkowitz, spent 25 years buying problem-free examples of this date. Even so, he had a diffcult time finding more than 200 pieces. His hoard contained 22 Mint State examples, 20 About Uncirculated, 50 Extremely Fine, 50 Very Fine, 50 Fine, and 20 Very Good. His hoard was sold from 2003 to 2005. Only one example in this group had a Shallow N reverse, and it was bought already attributed as such. Hoards of high-quality pieces like these do not cause concern about price drops if they were to be sold—on the contrary, if large groups of rare coins enter the market at once, they excite collectors and prices may actually rise.

Collecting Circulated Pieces: The optimal collecting grade for circulated coins is F-12. This is one of the toughest dates in the series to find in attractive shape, without any problems. Consider dropping strict standards on strike and light hits to acquire this date. These are very rare when properly graded in Extremely Fine and About Uncirculated. Some collectors attempt to find the Shallow N reverse as well as the typically found Bold N reverse.

Collecting Mint State Pieces: The optimal collecting grade for Mint State coins is MS-63RB. It is very diffcult to locate with a full strike. Many are missing detail, usually on the reverse, due to machine oil or water resting on the planchet or on the dies. Coins that were struck through liquid will have good strikes on one side and missing details on the other. Weakly struck coins will have missing detail on both sides.

This issue will be mostly streaky red-brown, due to improperly mixed alloy. Full red coins are very rare. This is the toughest date to find in MS-65RD.

A growing number of collectors attempt to acquire both reverse types. The Shallow N is about ten times rarer than the Bold N.

Collecting Proof Issues: Proofs of 1872 are much more readily available than high-grade Mint State coins. As a result, many substitute the less expensive Proof in their collections of Uncirculated coins, although the different texture may be distracting to most collectors.

These are a bit more readily available than 1871 and earlier dates, but because of date collector pressure they 1872, Bulging T receive similar prices. While they tend to be red-brown, they are not as streaky as other dates. This makes finding attractive examples a bit easier. Proofs of this date are quite scarce in full red, and gems are very tough.

It is diffcult to find deep mirrors on this issue and examples with full cameo contrast are rare.

A new Bold N reverse die with a distinctive bulging right pennant of the T in CENT is found on all Proof issues. This die was used intermittently until 1878.

At least three different Shallow N dies were used this year. The die pairs without obverse varieties are listed as Snow-4. Shallow N dies paired with obverse varieties are listed as S-13 (repunched date) and S-14 (bold misplaced digit). There are a number of minor repunched dates, but because of the high price of this date, premiums are small.

A small part of the D in UNITED started to deteriorate on the hub starting this year. (The hub is the undated steel positive used to make dies for coinage. A hub can be used over many years since it does not carry the date.) This hub deterioration, resulting in a “broken D,” is an interesting aspect to trace over the next few years, but its coins do not warrant a premium.