scyther wrote:Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay wrote:1797 US one cent. Made with a broken die. The most prized coin in my collection.
Now if only I could find a 1787 Fugio copper, or two.....
Wow! How much is that worth? And did you find in a bag of pennies, or halves, or...?
It was at a yard sale in a box of foreign coins. (Maybe I am cheating on the OP question a little, for it was not in circulation) I paid a quarter for it.
I took it to an LCS just to get some lively conversation about it and have it appraised. The coin shop owner was one of those guys whose attitude is all your coins are worthless junk and all his stuff is priceless treasure. I hate it when they do that.
He said broken dies were common during that period and then made an insultingly low offer for it.
I didn't want to sell it, just wanted to know what it was truly worth and enjoy the moment from a numismatic sense. I have not tried to get it appraised since.
I say it is the "most prized" for it heralds back to our nation's founding when LIBERTY was worth dying for. LIBERTY was the rule of the day. Who knows who held that coin? George Washington? John Jay? Thomas Jefferson?