Sometimes when I scroll down these posts and see the plethora of museum quality coins, I wonder if it really is worth it to post anything . . . so let's just say I threw three at you in a simple yukky pic because it just isn't worth it to try to keep up with some of those (most all) posts with mmmmmmmm . . tasty coins!
Bravo to those half dimes above . . . . here is my homage to (lower end) collector grade stuff.
Threads like these are well worth the price of admission . . . .
Sometimes when I scroll down these posts and see the plethora of museum quality coins, I wonder if it really is worth it to post anything . . . so let's just say I threw three at you in a simple yukky pic because it just isn't worth it to try to keep up with some of those (most all) posts with mmmmmmmm . . tasty coins!
Bravo to those half dimes above . . . . here is my homage to (lower end) collector grade stuff.
Threads like these are well worth the price of admission . . . .
Well, my little coins are a lot closer to "mildly interesting" than they are to "museum quality" but the dimes you posted are terrific. A well-traveled no-stars is always nice, a coin minted during the Civil War is always interesting, and a nice AU58 is nothing to sneeze at. One of the things I like about this hobby (and this forum) is that a multi-billionaire can post stuff right alongside photos from the kid working two jobs while going to college. There's a niche for everyone and elitists are probably missing out on half of the fun anyhow.
@kaz also shared a blunt 5 1853; it's what I call V-14.
Some past researchers thought figuring out die varieties for the 1853 half dime was pretty much impossible,
but Valentine (1931) did not. Walter Breen in his 1958 supplement said,
Valentine's attempt to describe varieties is futile; 78 obverses, 80 reverses, not counting interminglings.
However, with the help of modern shared photos on the internet, I believe probably about half can be identified.
One simple marker is the flag on the 5: blunt or pointed.
At some point this may be recognized as a major variety group, like the plain or fancy 5 on 1865 Indian Cents
and Two Cent pieces.
The 1853 No Arrows has the blunt 5. So does the V-12.
I found these date / arrow positions for the 1853 with blunt 5:
date right (above)
date left: V-13, V-8, V-12
date center: V-15, V-13, V-11 (V-11 might be pointed? That's Valentine's 1931 plate photo; I haven't found a second example yet)
date right: V-9, V-14, V-10
It appears that about half the dies for 1853 have a pointed 5 with the date and arrows on the hub,
but there are also a few pointed 5 dies with different date positions.
The V-2 is an example of the pointed 5 with hubbed date and arrows.
@boiler78 said:
Here is the half dime type set I put together years ago. As my eyes get older my collecting tastes have gravitated to larger coins so these were sold off over the years and replaced with larger coins.
I wish I had had that kind of money when I was building my type set.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
Here's an 1845 V-9 which I found on ebay last October.
I like the reverse die crack which touches U and N.
This is the plate photo for V-9 in the 1845 guide.
Steve Crain discovered this variety in 1999, but did not publish an article about it or assign a V- number.
We only know because his database Notes (and photos of his reference collection) were shared on the Newman Numismatic Portal.
He wrote:
VLDS Shattered Reverse AU 50 2/9/1999
OBV: SL-9. SP - Over flag of 1. Bulla - Right of center of upright of 4. 1/DL, 8/SP, 4/DC, 5/SP-DLE. 184 bold, run slightly downhill. 5 thin, high. Defect @ *5, between *9-*10, between *10-*11. DC toe - rim.
REV: Rotated 20' CCW. Large DC rim @ K7:30 - righ
(the saved version of his Notes were truncated at 128 characters, sorry)
Some of the wilder colors are seen in the later proofs. (Photos courtesy of PCGS CoinFacts).
The above is a V-1, which was struck from a rusted die which left small bumps
on either side of Liberty's head and some roughness on her gown.
The other known 1871 proof die pair is V-11, of which only a few examples are known.
Here is a lovely 1836 LM-1.2 Large 5 Capped Bust Half Dime in PCGS MS65 (CAC), with a neat reverse Cud.
...
....
This coin will be offered for sale in my 2020 ANA Fixed Price List and Sealed Bid Sale of the Stephen Crain Capped Bust Half Dime Collection this summer.
....
Photo courtesy of W. David Perkins Numismatics
....
The above photo was posted to this forum in 2017 by Benny Haimovitz,
who used to write a monthly column in the E-Gobrecht titled: Cracked, Shattered and Terminal.
There was a recent thread on Benny; he passed away last September.
The 1872-s V-3 is not only an MPD in the bottom of the skirt, but apparently an RPD as well (18 S).
For awhile this was known as V-5, but the MPD is visible in Valentine's V-3 plate (left half of above photo array).
1838 V-10b.
We like to call this the "crumbled die".
It's not really rust, because that should be over most of the fields in the die.
Instead the theory is that the die steel was not very good, and some of it "flaked off" under MERICa.
But it does yield a raised rough surface, somewhat similar to what rust can do.
@oih82w8 said:
Here is my 1849/6 H10C which was attributed as 1849/8 back in the day. This variety has had lots of changes and confusion in the past couple of years.
I remember the threads here where we discussed the confusion created by the different ways TPGs described the different overdates, and how Tom DeLorey was able to get them to agree and solve the confusion!
Here is my "one page" attribution guide, motivated by those discussions!
Fortunately the 2 main overdates are easily identified from their reverse crack patterns.
Yours is clearly the V-2 "9 / Far 6", because the crack through the right ribbon is easy to see.
Comments
Collector
75 Positive BST transactions buying and selling with 45 members and counting!
instagram.com/klnumismatics
Heavens . . .
Sometimes when I scroll down these posts and see the plethora of museum quality coins, I wonder if it really is worth it to post anything . . . so let's just say I threw three at you in a simple yukky pic because it just isn't worth it to try to keep up with some of those (most all) posts with mmmmmmmm . . tasty coins!
Bravo to those half dimes above . . . . here is my homage to (lower end) collector grade stuff.
Threads like these are well worth the price of admission . . . .
Drunner
Awesome!
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Top 10 Cal Fractional Type Set
successful BST with Ankurj, BigAl, Bullsitter, CommemKing, DCW(7), Elmerfusterpuck, Joelewis, Mach1ne, Minuteman810430, Modcrewman, Nankraut, Nederveit2, Philographer(5), Realgator, Silverpop, SurfinxHI, TomB and Yorkshireman(3)
1872-s V-8c which I photographed in February, while working on the 1872-s die variety guide (not my coin).
This variety has a branching obverse die crack from K8 to the rock,
and a reverse die crack from K5 to a leaf.
It's R-3; readily available.
I need to buy a half dime back for my use, Have tried but always get outbid by someone that wants it worse than I!
@DRUNNER
Well, my little coins are a lot closer to "mildly interesting" than they are to "museum quality" but the dimes you posted are terrific. A well-traveled no-stars is always nice, a coin minted during the Civil War is always interesting, and a nice AU58 is nothing to sneeze at. One of the things I like about this hobby (and this forum) is that a multi-billionaire can post stuff right alongside photos from the kid working two jobs while going to college. There's a niche for everyone and elitists are probably missing out on half of the fun anyhow.
Well, since we are on page two...
"used to be mine"
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
Amazing coin! By far the rarest die marriage of the flowing hair half dimes.
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
This is the plate coin for V-12 in the upcoming 1853 guide!
@CoinJunkie also posted a V-12.
@kaz also shared a blunt 5 1853; it's what I call V-14.
Some past researchers thought figuring out die varieties for the 1853 half dime was pretty much impossible,
but Valentine (1931) did not. Walter Breen in his 1958 supplement said,
However, with the help of modern shared photos on the internet, I believe probably about half can be identified.
One simple marker is the flag on the 5: blunt or pointed.
At some point this may be recognized as a major variety group, like the plain or fancy 5 on 1865 Indian Cents
and Two Cent pieces.
The 1853 No Arrows has the blunt 5. So does the V-12.
I found these date / arrow positions for the 1853 with blunt 5:
date right (above)
date left: V-13, V-8, V-12
date center: V-15, V-13, V-11 (V-11 might be pointed? That's Valentine's 1931 plate photo; I haven't found a second example yet)
date right: V-9, V-14, V-10
It appears that about half the dies for 1853 have a pointed 5 with the date and arrows on the hub,
but there are also a few pointed 5 dies with different date positions.
The V-2 is an example of the pointed 5 with hubbed date and arrows.
...and that forum member has since sold it as well.
jom
yosclimber, I am in awe of your numismatic scholarship. Great post on the '53 die varieties.
I wish I had had that kind of money when I was building my type set.
Several from "The Kingdom Collection"
How about a last year proof.
Pre-half dime
Lafayette Grading Set
Here's an 1845 V-9 which I found on ebay last October.
I like the reverse die crack which touches U and N.
This is the plate photo for V-9 in the 1845 guide.
Steve Crain discovered this variety in 1999, but did not publish an article about it or assign a V- number.
We only know because his database Notes (and photos of his reference collection) were shared on the Newman Numismatic Portal.
He wrote:
(the saved version of his Notes were truncated at 128 characters, sorry)
Some of the wilder colors are seen in the later proofs. (Photos courtesy of PCGS CoinFacts).
The above is a V-1, which was struck from a rusted die which left small bumps
on either side of Liberty's head and some roughness on her gown.
The other known 1871 proof die pair is V-11, of which only a few examples are known.
Here is a lovely 1836 LM-1.2 Large 5 Capped Bust Half Dime in PCGS MS65 (CAC), with a neat reverse Cud.
...
....
This coin will be offered for sale in my 2020 ANA Fixed Price List and Sealed Bid Sale of the Stephen Crain Capped Bust Half Dime Collection this summer.
....
Photo courtesy of W. David Perkins Numismatics
....
W. David Perkins Numismatics - http://www.davidperkinsrarecoins.com/ - 25+ Years ANA, ANS, NLG, NBS, LM JRCS, LSCC, EAC, TAMS, LM CWTS, CSNS, FUN
PCGS ms 63.
Here is my one and only half dime:
ANA-LM, CWTS-LM, NBS, TAMS, ANS
@lkeigwin Beautiful
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
One of the more dramatic cuds in the Seated Half Dime series is this 1853 V-8a.
It is #65 on the Top 100 Varieties list.
https://sites.google.com/view/clintcummins/half-dime-attribution-guide
The above photo was posted to this forum in 2017 by Benny Haimovitz,
who used to write a monthly column in the E-Gobrecht titled:
Cracked, Shattered and Terminal.
There was a recent thread on Benny; he passed away last September.
Beautiful example of the 1858 over inverted date!
One of my favorite specimens best of both worlds color and crusty.
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
Another color and crusty specimen
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
1837 varieties
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
Rusted reverse
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
Here is my 1849/6 H10C which was attributed as 1849/8 back in the day. This variety has had lots of changes and confusion in the past couple of years.
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
Oops- double posted one because I didn't realize this was a revival thread.
The 1872-s V-3 is not only an MPD in the bottom of the skirt, but apparently an RPD as well (18 S).
For awhile this was known as V-5, but the MPD is visible in Valentine's V-3 plate (left half of above photo array).
I had a lot of fun creating an attribution guide for the 1872-s varieties (free downloadable PDF).
https://sites.google.com/view/clintcummins/half-dime-attribution-guide
Thanks for resurrecting this thread and sharing your varieties!
1837 V-1 (RPD 1837 SS), or possibly V-2. (Pointed top 1)
1837 V-5 rim cuds on right side (Flat top 1)
Nice examples of the main varieties.
1838 V-10b.
We like to call this the "crumbled die".
It's not really rust, because that should be over most of the fields in the die.
Instead the theory is that the die steel was not very good, and some of it "flaked off" under MERICa.
But it does yield a raised rough surface, somewhat similar to what rust can do.
Researcher Stephen Crain @MrHalfDime assembled what he called a "mini hoard"
of 19 examples of the 1838 V-10 in different die states, and then wrote an article on them in Gobrecht Journal #84 (2002).
https://archive.org/details/gobrectjournalfon084libe/page/2/mode/2up
There is even a proof example of the V-10a die state where the crumbling does not quite reach the last A in AMERICA.
1833 LM6 R-6. This coin has an ancient cleaning, and it retoned in a National Coin Album over many decades.
1864 business strike, PCGS MS66, found raw and submitted to PCGS in 2006 or so.
I remember the threads here where we discussed the confusion created by the different ways TPGs described the different overdates, and how Tom DeLorey was able to get them to agree and solve the confusion!
Here is my "one page" attribution guide, motivated by those discussions!
Fortunately the 2 main overdates are easily identified from their reverse crack patterns.
Yours is clearly the V-2 "9 / Far 6", because the crack through the right ribbon is easy to see.
Just bought my first one. It actually looks nicer in hand and exhibits cartwheel luster.
Mr_Spud