1886 1c Type 2 MS RB

1886, Variety 2, Cent Production: It is not known when the Mint produced the new obverse master die by Charles Barber, although it was probably made during the hiatus of cent and nickel production early in the year. If so, then the estimated 15 Variety 2 dies dated 1886 would have struck coins at the same time as older Variety 1 dies when coinage resumed. A larger number of coins from the Variety 2 dies show extreme die wear. Per-between the I and C in AMERICA. haps near the end of the year the Mint chose to stretch the life of the dies rather than make more. Dies used to strike Proofs were also put into service to strike regular issues.

Survivability: There was no special significance placed on the Variety 2 style early on, as it was a relatively minor alteration. It was only after 1954 that collectors started to collect these coins as separate entities. As a result, nearly the entire mintage went into circula-points between the C and A. tion and stayed there until they were well worn. The survival of any examples is based on chance rather than from collector hoards. A roll of 50 coins from the same dies appeared in Superior Galleries’ section of Auction ’81, bringing $30,000. While the appearance of a roll like this greatly altered the relative rarity of this date, it did little to lower the prices. It just made more coins available to collectors.

Collecting Challenges: Quality is quite poor on most of the pieces encountered. Search out pieces struck from an early-die-state die. These will have crisp details and flat fields. Many have been chemically altered by dishonest people seeking to capture the high prices asked for high-grade pieces.

Collecting Circulated Pieces: The optimal collecting grade for circulated coins is EF-40. Select coins with attractive original surfaces. Target this date early on in your collecting, as it will take a while to find an attractive example.

Collecting Mint State Pieces: The optimal collecting grade for Mint State coins is MS-63RB. This is one of the tougher dates in all grades. However, as small groups have come to light its rarity has lessened slightly. It is believed that the 50 pieces that came from the Auction ’81 roll were mostly full red and all from the same die. These were all later-die-state coins, which have a look likened to melted butterscotch. Another group of 32 1886 Variety 2 pieces was found in 1994 in a bottle buried in Connecticut. Later, they were placed in the Bowers & Merena “Boys Town” sale in March 1998 (lots 353 to 363) where they were graded MS-61RB to MS-64RB. Among these pieces, 18 were of the same variety, Snow-7.

Full red gems are still very rare. Prices for MS-64RD and MS-65RD certified coins have climbed to levels seen only for the top three or four dates in the series.

Collecting Proof Issues: The mintage is estimated from the quantity of known survivors. No offcial figures break down the division between the two types. The 1886 Variety 2 Proof is prohibitively rare in full red gem condition. Cameo examples are nearly impossible to find. Most available examples are red-brown or totally brown, sometimes with vivid blue toning. The limited quantity of full red coins is curious. Many original coins exhibit a tan-golden color which grading services may find unusual. Perhaps the majority of remaining Proofs at the end of the year were Variety 2 pieces. If so, they may have been purchased by dealers, as was most of the leftover Proof minor coinage. If this is the case, then these would have sat for extended periods in their Mint wrappers, slowly toning to purple or brown.

Some of the five known die pairs used for Proof production were later used on regular coinage.

There are a few minor repunched dates. The Snow variety listings must show the design type as well as the variety number (1886, Variety 2, Snow-3, for example).