1855 1C Braided Hair Large Cent, Slanted 55 NGC MS64BN Mint Error

Here’s an interesting coin to add to your collection. Ron Guth writes in PCGS Coinfacts, “1855 Large Cents come with two different date styles -- one has slanted 5's and the other has upright 5's. In all of the years preceding 1855, the 5's had some degree of slant, though perhaps not to the degree as seen on the 1855's.” Guth also tells us that “the Upright 5’s variety is the more common of the two” making the Slanted 5’s less common.

In addition to the Slanted 55 variety, this piece is also a mint error coin with its ‘Obverse Struck Through.’ The NGC slab is hand-signed by Ken Bressett, the Editor of the Red Book. NGC has graded 192 of the 1855 Braided Hair Large Cent as MS64BN with 182 finer. However, NGC combined the Upright 5’s and the Slanted 5’s in their census report.

The Second Philadelphia Mint, where this piece was struck in 1855. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.