1817 large cent ... or is it? Options

[ejbauers]

I have an unusual piece here. It's a large cent with the date 1817.

 DSC03729.jpg ( 25.76K ) Number of downloads: 9


Now take a look at the head of the coin. Notice anything unusual?

 DSC03742.jpg ( 33.04K ) Number of downloads: 3


That's right. The date does not fit the obverse. Same with the reverse.

Taking a close look at this coin, it appears the second '1' is really a '4' that was worn away. Also it appears that a '1' was edged away to the right of the '8'. Additionally, it seems as if there is a medium sized '7' edged away to the left of the '7'.

 DSC03750.jpg ( 27.6K ) Number of downloads: 9


My question...Is this a know variety? is this rare? or is this some kind of fake? I am working on a type set and am not familiar with these large cents. Your opinions/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Vfox]

Post-mint damage to make the coin older than it really is. It is very likely, almost certainly a damaged 1847 large cent. It's a shame when people destroy perfectly good coins out of greed. It appears to be more modern, the patina never formed over the scratched off area. I would assume this is a fairly recent job.

[ccg]

I'm going to agree that it's been altered.

[Saor Alba]

And they did a lousy job of altering it, and frankly the head style on the coin is all wrong, being ca. 1838-1857. The 1817's had the Matron head.