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Long story short, I bought a ziploc bag full of Indian Head pennies at an estate auction for $40. Add on 10% buyer's premium and I'm in them for $44 out the door. Got home and counted them out... 126 total. Cool, 34 cents each! Next I started looking at dates. I get about halfway through the bag and I'm pulling tons of 1859-1864's, some nicer 1900's... and then out pops this 1877. I passed it to my wife and asked her to read the date to me. 1877 she says. I literally jumped out of my chair! She didn't get what the big deal was until I pulled up a few price guides. Now, the coin is rough and it's hard to read the date, but after looking at it with several lights and a 10x magnifying glass it's evident it is indeed an 1877. Under natural light it has a very dark patina to it, not quite black but it is dark. I'm not to hip on grading but I would say this is AG03, maybe G4? I have thoughts of selling it as-is, but on second thought I have .34 cents invested in it, so why not send it to PCGS and get it slabbed and graded? Just looking for some advice from the knowledgeable members here. Sorry for the picture quality as these are all from my phone. This thing is not easy to photograph even with my digital SLR!

Looks good to me. What a great find!!!

PCGS will probably certify that your coin is genuine, but may pass on the grade instead noting that the coin has GOOD DETAILS with environmental damage, or corrosion, or something like that. I think the most important factor is that the coin would be designated as GENUINE.

Looks like $750+ to me. Congratulations!

awesome find.what are you gonna do with it after grading sell on ebay?

Dude!

Homerun.....soak it up.....they're few and far between.

Get her slabbed in a PCGS secure plus holder. It will comeback Genuine enviro damage.....but will be well worth the money. Coingrats!

jasmatk wrote:awesome find.what are you gonna do with it after grading sell on ebay?

Not sure yet. I don't really need the cash, so if I did sell it I've always wanted a nice $10 gold Indian that I would put the money towards. Or I could just put it in the safe and sit on it for a while - seems like a good investment piece.

Rodebaugh wrote:Dude!

Homerun.....soak it up.....they're few and far between.

Get her slabbed in a PCGS secure plus holder. It will comeback Genuine enviro damage.....but will be well worth the money. Coingrats!

Thanks! I'm still excited over this one. Since you have a lot of experience grading and submitting coins, what's the easiest and most cost effective way for me to send it to PCGS? I'm looking at the one-year membership and standard grading service.

As a side note I hit a minor home run on some silver at the same auction. Another ziploc full of dimes, 155 to be exact, for $230. NO ONE bothered to count them out, even the auctioneers only estimated them at "about 2 rolls". It was all Barbers and Mercs. Pulled a very nice 1921 no mint mark out. I also got a tube of 10 mixed Morgans and Peace Dollars that no one noticed the 1921 Peace in there. Paid a bit more then I wanted at $300 but it's in XF shape. Last but not least a bag of Walkers with a lone Franklin mixed in, for $260.

Nice auction for sure.....I need one of those.

Yeah, I have the 4 free grades basic year membership package and it suits me just fine. If you do any other numi stuff.... I would Invest the money and go that route.

That purchase was amazing!

Congrats!

I'm just repeating, but it doesn't hurt to get an extra vote of confidence. I say PCGS definitely. Let us know what you get back!

Whoa! Oh yeah, that's worth jumping out of your chair for.

This has already been a banner year for Realcenters and it's only April.

Nice going, man

Thank you for all the positive comments everyone! I'm going to be sending this in to PCGS by the end of the week and I will be sure to give an update when I get it back.

AWESOME!

I just dug my first indian head cent out of the ground last week. I saw the reverse first....so while I'm slowly turning it over.....to my myself I kept saying.......please be a 1877.....please be a 77.....please o please be a 1877....well it was a 1893....but I think you get the picture!

Nice find indeed!

Quick update: I gave the coin to a certified PCGS dealer about a month ago for him to send in for me since the fees were just too high for me. We agreed on a $30 price and sent it in with a batch of others. He got the coin back a few weeks ago and they would not grade it. I'm guessing due to corrosion? He tried NGC and got the same results. Not sure what to do at this point, as I'm a little disappointed but it is what it is. My only chance now is to try ICG.

Try ANACS. The others send back in body bags but ANACS I think will slab it I believe.

From their website:

Problem Coins Graded
ANACS is the first major grading service to grade cleaned, corroded, damaged, repaired, and other "problem coins". What will be printed on the label will be the coin's "detail grade" and the coin's most significant problem(s).

The "details grade" reflects the amount of remaining detail on the coin, balancing actual wear with remaining sharpness. Such coins will be encapsulated in our new ANACS holder. The ANACS guarantee does not apply to problem coins.

Sell it me.....I'll take it!

I had one graded for a friend of mine. It came in AG3 and It was about like this.
Even an AG3 is worth a few hundred, so, I'm still jealous.
Congrats!

What a score, wow! Thx for the update too.

AGCoinHunter wrote:Try ANACS. The others send back in body bags but ANACS I think will slab it I believe.

From their website:

Problem Coins Graded
ANACS is the first major grading service to grade cleaned, corroded, damaged, repaired, and other "problem coins". What will be printed on the label will be the coin's "detail grade" and the coin's most significant problem(s).

The "details grade" reflects the amount of remaining detail on the coin, balancing actual wear with remaining sharpness. Such coins will be encapsulated in our new ANACS holder. The ANACS guarantee does not apply to problem coins.

I found a damaged 1909 VDB that I thought had a hint of an S under the date and ANACS graded it.



Alas, no "S", but still a happy find.