Two and one half months after I made a commitment to buy an 1802 NGC XF-40 Large Cent, my wait has finally ended!

Though I waited about two and a half months from the commitment to buy until delivery, this story really began at the ANA show in August. This is when I purchased a 1901 MS-63 gold eagle. You see, it was then that I asked the person I bought the eagle from to look out for a nice VF-XF Draped Bust Large Cent to complete my 7070 type set. Thereafter, I personally decided to put an end to my search and wait until I got word on a prospective coin.

When you think about, you have to be able to trust your want list to a person or dealer who has a good eye for quality coins. The 1901 gold eagle and some other coins my friend had on hand for other clients convinced me of his knack to find coins with nice eye appeal. Add to this the nice deal I got on the 1901 eagle and I have no problem trusting this person to select quality coins for me sight unseen.

Another plus about this deal is that I don't normally buy early coppers and as such I am not familiar with the market for them. Having someone in your corner who knows something of that market and is someone you can trust is a real comfort.

As time went by, I kind of forgot about the coin. That was until I got a call from my friend at the Whitman Show in Baltimore about an 1802 NGC XF-40 Mervis Collection pedigreed coin. Part of this coin's appeal is that at one time it was part a complete set of large cents according to Sheldon variety. In 2013, the Mervis Collection of Large Cents won the NGC award for best classic set.

Another appealing feature of this coin is a long die crack on the coin's obverse. That crack starts at 12:00 and cuts through the top quarter of the coin before ending at about 3:00. The surfaces are all evenly colored and original. Except for weakness in the reverse legend, the coin has a small planchet flaw in the D of UNITED and what appears to be a clash or crack running from the top left of the wreath through the A & T in STATES. Another crack from the wreath through the E in UNITED rounds out the reverse features of this coin.

After viewing a few photographs of the coin, I decided to go ahead and purchase the coin. However, there were a few flies in the ointment so to say. When I got the call, I had already made a big coin purchase only a little more than a week earlier. Add to that the coming of Christmas and my kids needing a little help, I was in a pickle to buy another pricey coin. Fortunately, this did not turn into a show stopper as we worked out an agreement whereby I could pay for the coin in three monthly installments.

Now with my set complete, I only need to make some choice upgrades to achieve the level of quality I desire for this set at the amount of money I can afford. This is where another set of eyes really comes in quite handy!

For now I hope you enjoy my images that for an early copper are quite impressive. Believe me, I have combed through dozens if not hundreds of listings only to discover that there are relatively few coins of the quality I now have!

Gary

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