Saturday, December 31, 2005
My Two Cents' Worth
Many people don't know that the US actually minted two-cent coins. They were in production for ten years, ending in 1873.
I own six of the series, 1864-68 and '71. They've long been one of my favorite coins: they're copper, not gold or silver; nobody knows much about them and mostly, collectors have ignored them. I also like the design: uncluttered and fairly unusual in that it doesn't depict a person (a president or a goddess).
Tough to collect, though. The prime wear point on the shield side is the "we" of the motto. I see really worn versions from time to time as I browse in a coin store, but for acquisition's sake, I prefer the "we" to be fairly strong, meaning the technical condition has to be VF-20 or better. These seem very hard to find.
This example, by the way, is a Proof-66. Sold at auction for $11K, not bad for a collector's-only issue with only about eleven-hundred in existence. Compared to some US coins of equal or less rarity, it might be a bargain. Each year from 1864, they minted fewer and fewer pieces, trailing off from almost twenty million that first year.
The coin is also notable for being the very first with the motto "In God We Trust" stamped on it.
