Canada 1859 One Cent Brass

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Mikeycoin
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 11:17 pm

Canada 1859 One Cent Brass

Post by Mikeycoin » Tue Aug 11, 2020 9:35 am

Hello, I had some questions about the 1859 narrow 9. Brass Canada Cent. Could someone please inform me of some of the identifiers of this rarity? I have identified some; one of which is an arc die break line under 18 of the date; I found this same (arch like) die line on genuine specimens sold by Heritage Auctions. I found that most of the markers can be found on my coin. My coin is unusually thin as well;I compared in a picture next to my loupe. My coin weighs in at 4.4 grams, is decently yellow as well. Any information would be good for me because I really want to send this coin in for authentication. Oh, one last thing is that my coin has a greater diameter than other cents; I would say about .5mm
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Mikeycoin
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 11:17 pm

Re: Canada 1859 One Cent Brass

Post by Mikeycoin » Tue Aug 11, 2020 9:37 am

As you can see, the die break line arc under 18 as well as other markers such as the die break at the 7th leaf.

Bill in Burl
Posts: 1469
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:41 am
Location: Golden Horseshoe, ONT

Re: Canada 1859 One Cent Brass

Post by Bill in Burl » Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:01 pm

There are no "markers" for a brass cent. Improper mixing of the bronze alloy into the small ingots resulted in small sections of the ingot to be more "brass-like". When the ingots were put through the rollers to make the sheets from which the planchets were punched, there were some small sections of the sheets that were zinc-rich, so the planchets that were struck had a higher zinc content than the tin. As such, maybe a small percentage of a small number of rolled sheets had sections that would resemble a type of brass rather than bronze. There are over 60 alloys that are categorized as a "brass" alloy. There's a very fine line between brass and bronze alloys at the low zinc end. The 1859 is known as "brass" only because it exceeded 5% zinc .. it's not really brass.

Who knows how many planchets that were above 5% zinc were struck. Since the planchets were random in the finished tubs/containers, any number of different working dies could have struck those special planchets that were randomly shot into the presses. The only way that you are going to find out if it's "brass" is to have someone take an XRF of it .. a good one calibrated for coins. One from a salvage/scrap yard or jeweler won't do it. A few of us did a lengthy research study on the brass 1859's and it was published in the CN Journal March 2012. If you are an RCNA member, you can access it through their library. Don't spend your money trying to get it cert'd until you have a valid XRF done. From my eye, it isn't a brass cent ... it is yellowish because someone cleaned it. You can turn any 1859 yellow by using any number of cleaners under the kitchen sink. Also, the 1858 and 1859 large cents are 1/3 thinner than 1876 and on, so yours is normal. And also, EVERY 1858 & '59 have a vine break at 7, except for 3 1858 working dies. The hub/matrix broke during the 3rd working die used so everything past there has a vine break at 7 .. that includes every 1859.

Please save or copy this explanation for reference evryone. I get tired of posting essentially the same thing every time someone thinks that they have a brass '59.
Bill in Burl

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gidjit
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2018 9:36 pm

Re: Canada 1859 One Cent Brass

Post by gidjit » Wed Aug 12, 2020 6:10 am

maybe they shout make your answer to this very common question a stick on this and the other forum?
click this link to see my ongoing collection of canada large cents and their varieties
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 4b87156114

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