1820 1C N-13, BN MS64BN Certification #53759666, PCGS #36673

Ron Guth

Newcomb 13 (N-13) is one of six different die varieties of the 1820 Large Date Cent.  Many of the 1820 N-13's came from a wooden keg of Large Cents found underneath a railway platform in Georgia sometime after the Civil War.  In fact, there is a tendency to label any Uncirculated 1820 N-13 as a "Randall Hoard" Cent even there is no evidence tieing any of them to that source.  The one positive result of the Randall Hoard is that there is a nice supply of Mint State 1820 Large Cents, mamy with original red color.  Unfortunately, many 1820 N-13's are spotty (sometimes excessively so), but nice examples can be found with some patience.

Based on the PCGS Population Report, one would think that Red-Brown 1820 N-13's were difficult to locate compared to Brown examples.  However, the population for all 1820 Large Cents shows that the majority are Red-Brown, indicating that many of them are N-13's that have not yet been attributed by PCGS.