1887 1c MS RB

1887 Cent Production: Planchets this year and 1888 were supplied by Joseph Wharton’s firm. With full-time production restored, the mintage for the year rivaled the record levels of the early 1880’s.

Survivability: Cents of 1887 circulated widely and are usually found in medium circulated grades. They are more readily available than dates with similar mintages in the earlier 1880’s. Perhaps as more and more cents were struck there was less reason to constantly empty the “penny jar.” Regardless of the reason, many more of these laterdate cents have survived.

Collecting Challenges: Search out problem-free examples. These tend to be well struck, but many were struck from later-die-state dies. These will be mushy with wavy fields. Die state is not typically a factor in setting the price of a coin, so searching for early-die-state pieces should only cost you extra time.

Collecting Circulated Pieces: The optimal collecting grade for circulated coins is AU-50. Select problem-free examples with original chocolate-brown color.

Collecting Mint State Pieces: The optimal collecting grade for Mint State coins is MS-65RB or MS-64RD, which are generally priced similarly. Avoid coins with blotchy or strange toning. Search for full strikes and early die states. Full gems in both redbrown and red are scarce. Full red coins sometimes have a pale tan-golden color (as do some 1886 pieces).

Collecting Proof Issues: The mintage dipped slightly this year, but this does little to change the rarity rating compared to other dates in the 1880’s. Many 1887 cents are found with pale tan-golden planchets. Many others have toned to brown, sometimes with vivid iridescent blue toning, which is worth a significant premium. Perhaps many of the issue were left over at the end of the year and were purchased by dealers such as David Proskey, who had been accumulating leftover minor Proof coinage for later sale. Due to all these factors this date is diffcult to find graded full red. Sometimes these are found singly struck, which may hinder the resulting coins from reaching the higher grades. This is one of the toughest dates for collectors of PF-65RD coins. Examples with cameo contrast are exceedingly rare.

The Snow-1 doubled die is one of the top ten varieties of the series. This variety has significant doubling on the right obverse. The doubling is mostly on the central veins of the feathers and OF AMERICA.