The Books of US Large Cents

[Art]

US Large Cent collecting can be undertaken in several forms. There's the date set of Large Cents where on coin of each date is acquired ignoring all of the varieties. This is the approach that many people have taken. Some have expanded on this approach with the addition of major varieties such as the 1830 Large Letters and Medium Letters. This is the method covered in Dansco's 7099 US Large Cents Album.

 

There is of course the type set - one sample of each major design type without regard to year and variety. And then there's the detailed collection which includes all of the varieties that have been identified for each date. Part of the goal here is for the collector to discover a new variety. For example, in the Late Date Large Cents (1840-1857), there are 410 varieties defined.

 

Large Cents are also divided along major date groupings, and collected along these lines in combinations of the methodologies from type sets to full variety sets. Early Date cents are those minted from 1793 to 1814. Middle Date cents from 1816 to 1839. And Late Dates from 1840 to 1857.

 

There is also a significant amount of information necessary for most of the collection types. There's a whole library of research material available for use in determining the variety and die state of your Large Cent. I'm going to list some books that are available. I'll start with the books that I have.

 

I hope that you enjoy this and find it useful. Please fell free to jump in with information, viewpoints, reviews, additional books, etc. Let's make this a serious resource for collectors of US Large Cents.

 

Resources in my Large Cent Library:

. Penny Whimsey by W.Sheldon

. The Cent Book 1816-1839 by John D. Wright

. The Die Varieties of United States Large Cents 1840-1857 by John R. Grellman, Jr.

. A Guide Book of United States Coins various editions

. Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of Early United States Cents 1793-1814

. An Introduction of the World of Early American Copper Coinage -- Early American Coppers, Inc.

. 2001 EAC Convention Sale Catalog by Chris McCawley & Bob Grellman

. 2002 EAS Convention Sale Catalog by Chris McCawley & Bob Grellman

. History of the Early American Coppers Club - 1997 Edition

. Penny-wise September 2005, The Official Publication of Early American Coppers, Inc.

. Penny-wise May 2005, The Official Publication of Early American Coppers, Inc.

. Official ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins - 1996 Edition

. New Photograde by James Ruddy - 1972 Edition

. 1991 Handbook of United States Coins - Dealer Buying Prices 48th Edition

...

Edited February 14, 2010 by Art
Publications list added

[Art]

The Die Varieties of United States Large Cents 1840-1857 by John R. Grellman, Jr.

 

This is considered the varieties Bible by many collectors of Late Date Cents. Each date is broken down into the Newcomb variety numbers. For each Newcomb variety there is a line drawing that indicates the diagnostics for that variety. Line drawings are used because the die variety characteristics often do not show even in high quality detailed photographs. To get all of the diagnostics to appear in the same photograph is impossible.

 

A detailed description of the variety both obverse and reverse is included along with an indication of the rarity of the coin. Each collectable die state of the variety is identified along with its corresponding diagnostic information and an indication of its rarity.

 

A collectable Die State is simply the identification of a die and its life cycle status (Early, Middle, Late) that is identifiable by some "unique" characteristic. For example cuds may appear in one part of the life cycle and expand as the die is used until it is totally unfit for production.

[AuldFartte]

Grellman is an excellent reference ... I use it exclusively to attribute the late dates.

[Art]

Grellman is an excellent reference ... I use it exclusively to attribute the late dates.

 

I'm still struggling with the DRN but I'll get it eventually - I hope.

[Art]

The Cent Book 1816-1839 by John D. Wright

 

There's a great writeup on this book on the Largecents.net website. I'll just put the link here and you can go and look for yourselves. Take a few minutes and checkout the site. I think that Tom has done a fantastic job on his site.

 

Largecents.net book review: The Cent Book 1816-1839

[16d]

"think that Tom has done a fantastic job on his site."

 

Agree.

[Art]

I added a few more of my books to the list in the first post.