🥇 BANNER 1877 Indian Head Cent - The Big Key Date!

Silver Tree Chaser

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I found this 1877 Indian Head Cent this past Saturday morning on my second visit to a new site.

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A colonial-period house once stood at the site which offered easy short cut grass for hunting, but little was found on my first 4-5 hour search a few weeks ago. I recovered a tombac button, a musket ball, a Wheat penny, and a Buffalo nickel. Saturday’s search was offering equally dismal results consisting of a modern dime (several inches deep :BangHead:), a quarter, and a foreign coin recovered over a half-hour search, so I started working my way back to the car. I had other sites to search that morning. I was hoping for one more high-tone signal before leaving, and soon passed over just such a signal about 6” deep. I cut a plug and removed an Indian Head cent with far less corrosion in comparison to what I typically encounter. I gave the coin a light rub and was surprised with the date of 1877. I knew the key date for the Indian Head series was somewhere in the 1870’s neighborhood. “Hmmmmm, was it 1872, 1874, or 1877? Did I have the big key date? Nahhhhh! The key date is 1874. If it’s 1877, than I must be misreading the dirt-encrusted date. It’s probably 1879.”

Anyway, I found the coin about 8:00 a.m. and enjoyed considering the possibilities throughout the remainder of the day while running errands, attending to family obligations, and so forth. In the late afternoon, I finally got home and took a closer look at the coin. It was clearly dated 1877; all finished with Step One. Going to Step Two, I got out my old 2006 Red Book and scanned through the dates, “1877 – Good-4 Condition (near bottom of the grading scale = $575, Very Good-8 = $750, Fine-12 =$1000. I’m not one to overly focus on the value of finds, but there’s some pride in finding a coin that garners such prices, as it reflects the coin’s importance as the big key date of a popular coin series. I’m primarily interested in colonial-period finds – the big coppers; however, I’m also a coin collector, so finding a key date is a thrill. :hello2: I’ve dug hundreds of big coppers and Indian Head cents over the years, but I had no expectation of ever finding the 1877 key date Indian Head cent. Most of my recovered Indian Head cents are too corroded for positive dating, so I was very lucky to recover the key date coin with a tolerable amount of corrosion and a fair amount of detail. The coin is clearly a dug specimen with corrosion. It’s worth a fraction of the cost for a non-dug specimen, but I’ll take it and why not? How could I beat it? I don’t think I’ll being digging up any 1877 Indian Head cents in Mint State-Red condition, already slabbed as it comes out of the hole.

Good Hunting!
 

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Upvote 58
That's an awesome, incredible find and a very valuable coin to boot. What a day huh??

Congratulations.

That motivates me to go back to the spot where I found my one and only IH find (so far).
 

I'm a touch sad that this coin hasn't made BANNER already - many of you are giving high praise and congratulations, but not voting
banner - I'm a little confused here , Can some of you explain this to me ?

Argentium - I’ve been thrilled each time I made the banner, which has happened twice before, and as recently as this past May. I’ve received lots of congratulations and compliments from many members, and a lot of their names are very familiar to me. I’ve also received a moderate number of banner votes, and hopefully the coin will make it to the banner. The 1877 Indian Head is the rarest of the whole series. It’s in better than expected condition for a dug copper; consequently, it carries some real value. Even 1877 Indian Head cents in good condition (near bottom of grade condition) typically go for $500 on eBay.

It appears that the last 1877 Indian Head to appear on T-Net took place back in 2012, and amazingly that member found two such coins in a short span of time – amazing! Prior to that post, the most recent 1877 was apparently back in 2009. Regardless of making the banner, I’m satisfied with any outcome and thankful to have a website where I can post finds and see what everyone else is posting. All the great finds posted on T-Net provides awareness of what is still out there buried and awaiting discovery by someone with a detector and some determination. All for now, I've got to get to work. Right after work, I'm going detecting for the evening - time to get me a Chain Cent! :icon_thumleft:


Good Hunting!
 

You certainly have the right attitude about it - sometimes I just wonder (out loud) about the things I don't understand .
 

What an amazing find and in beautiful shape, congrats!
 

Spectacular find! A heartfelt congratulations! I found my first and only IH last week and I wish it was as nice as yours.
 

Incredible find! banner voted
 

@beez0404
I still haven't even found an Indian Head.

I voted banner today fyi. Hope to see ya up there soon!
 

Amazing! Great find, congrats on the soon to be banner!
 

most excellent indeed. congrats!
 

Outstanding find.

Congrats,


Buck
 

I knew it would get there.

There were some impatient replies, we do have to remember there are only two moderators here, and I'm sure they have lives.

A real nice day in the dirt, with a really good find, Congrats for all of it. (but I still like your avitar better.)
 

CONGRATS ON HITTING THE BANNER, That's a remarkable coin.
ZDD
 

congrats on the awesome find!! I"m always happy to find an IH but I'd die if I found that one.
 

Congratulations ! As regards impatient responses I'm guilty as charged .
 

Congrats. Now that you found the elusive 77 you might be able to put together a personally found series. I am 3 away, got my 77 a few years back, yours is a bit nicer. Once again congrats!
 

WHOA! You don't see one of those everyday! NICE FIND!!!
 

Indian Heads rule!:thumbsup:'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''congratulations on a really cool find. I noticed that the shield on the reverse has good detail.
 

Wow,very,very nice! :notworthy:
 

AWESOME FIND ON THE 1877!
but
The line in your post that got me was " I've Dug 100 s of Big Coppers & Indian Cents Over The Years"

I have only dug 1 smooth LC & est, 10 Indian Cents in over 10 Years of Hunting.

As I say it's mostly the site , I guess.

Again Congratulations

Davers
 

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