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Lot 0637 1864 Indian Head 1C. Bronze NGC PF66 BR

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 150,000.00 USD
Lot 0637 1864 Indian Head 1C. Bronze NGC PF66 BR
A very important coin as, in effect, the 1864 Bronze No L Indian cent is a one-year type. The reduced weight planchets introduced in mid-1864 are made of an alloy of copper, tin and zinc, known as French bronze. This example will undoubtedly bring forth a lot of bidding action, since few other examples are as fresh as original graded by PCGS. The coin has outstanding deep mirrors with delicately frosted devices and essentially perfect deep brown surfaces. The coin has acquired its patina with the passage of time, not artificially. This is one of the rarest dates in the Proof Indian Cent collection.

The mintage of 1864 Proof cents is open to some debate but since there are nearly 200 1864 No L Proofs graded from all the grading services combined, the figure must be in the neighborhood of 300 to 400. (In those days, the Mint was under no legal obligation to record mintage figures for minor coin Proofs, strange as that may seem to us in the more bureaucratized world of the 21st century.) We can estimate the original figures based on what takes place in the marketplace, accounting for a quantity of examples being lost to the vagaries of time, but even a well-informed guess will be off the mark. Regardless, perhaps 300 to 400 is the correct mintage.