Newp: 1839-o Halfdime, I Overpaid (?), Popularity is Everything, GTG (= PCGS MS62)
brianc1959
Posts: 350 ✭✭✭✭✭
I "overpaid" for this little guy, meaning I paid about 1.4x the priceguide:
However, I'm very happy to have won the auction because according to Coinfacts there are only about 25 total uncirculated specimens, and about 300 in all grades. By comparison, the 1893-s Morgan is much more common, with more than 120 uncirculated survivors, and about 10,000 survivors in all grades. But guess which coin costs a whole lot more?
GTG?
14
Comments
if you put 1839-O half dime in your title, you may very well get some seated half dime collectors to chime in with knowledge to share
Liberty seated issues are quite nice looking. They are also older and considerable rarer than the popular Morgan dollars. As you observe, one can obtain a top 100 population coin without breaking the bank.
Your photo does not display booming luster (GTG via a single photo caveats yada yada yada); I'll GTG at 63.
Your coin has very nice eye appeal.
Congratulations.
Barndog: I agree, but I'm not sure how to change the thread title at this point. Scratch that - I just figured it out. Thanks!
Very good eye appeal on that one. There are many rare coins that are overlooked because they are simply not stigmatized as rare/popular. Then again yours has exceptional color, good buy.
My eBay page: https://www.ebay.com/usr/alvareznumismatics
Im not one to pay extra for toning but thats a real nice looking coin. I might have paid a premium for that one. Nice pick up
58 to 61
63
Nice!
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Not an expert by any means on this one but I'd say 62
Maybe a 62 technically, but I'll bump it to 63 on eye appeal.
55 or 58.
On the reverse only I would go 63/64
A gorgeous 58. Congrats.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
55
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
A collector friend of mine once told me that, "I may have overpaid for it, but at least I have it". You may never find another. Today's overpayment is tomorrow's bargain. A lot of coins I have, I overpaid for, but at least I have them, and I am glad I do.
My position on auction purchases is that if I am the high bidder and win the auction, there is another bidder that wanted it almost as much as I did.
I feel exactly the same way.
Maybe the sample size is too small, but with 13 GTG responses I thought I would test out the "Wisdom of Crowds" thing. Averaging all the GTG's, including multiple grades if a responder included them, I get a grade of MS60.4. Here is a shot of the coin in its holder:
Your coin is a nice example of the 1839-o V-5 die marriage.
For some reason, most of the MS examples of 1839-o are V-5.
Yours is tied with 2 others for 7th best V-5.
It's fairly easy to identify as a V-5 from the diagonal die crack through S4 (Star 4).
In later die states, this crack becomes quite bold:
I also see the light die crack left of S1 and the repunched S2.
On the reverse I can see the die crack above T3 (second T in STATES).
V-5 is R3 as a die marriage.
If you'd like to see the roster of known examples and the other die marriages for 1839-o,
there is a free PDF attribution guide at:
https://sites.google.com/view/clintcummins/half-dime-attribution-guide
Was this a prize puzzle? Ask Vanna and Pat if I won the trip to Aruba?
That coin has nice detail, I would have guessed 63....You did well. Cheers, RickO
Very nice H10C in deed! Older, solid gasket insert adds more to the appeal. CAC worthy, imo.
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Really really nice piece. Enjoy!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Pretty half dime.
That was an amazing response - thanks! Its astonishing to think that there can be so many distinct varieties for an issue in which the entire existing population of ~300 survivors would fit into the palm of one hand (or maybe two?). Also astonishing to contemplate how much work goes into identifying everything.
I hope this wasn't a faux pas on my part! I don't think I could swing the trip to Aruba.
Great type coin and worth a premium. Like the O mint mark too.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
I was actually thinking of getting it re-holdered to get a TruView. I've never submitted anything to CAC, but I now have a bunch of stickerless coins in my collection that might be interesting to try. If I can get organized I'll report back here.
MAJOR faux pas, dude! As someone who got it correct, I will accept a week in Hawaii since Aruba is outside your budget.
1839-o half dimes are really difficult to locate in MS. The PCGS Population report has always pointed to them as an underrated date in MS. I guess there aren't enough people collecting Seated h10c sets in mint state grades to really push the price up. Then again, one could have said the same thing about 1839-O Reeded Edge half dollars 20 years ago.
Perhaps part of the problem is that strictly speaking only one person at a time can collect a whole Seated H10c set. Now, if the mintmark were on the obverse for 1838 and 1839 (as with the 50c, quarter eagle and half eagle) things might be entirely different. In any case I'm glad to have the coin in my collection.
With the 1838 half dime, you don't have to look at the reverse to know the mint mark.
Although I'm not sure how the obverse mint mark on those other denominations affects collecting mint state?
Care to explain? Probably I am not understanding something.
I suspect that the obverse mint mark on various 1838-1839 coins contributes to a cool factor that raises prices a bit. For example, the 1839 Philadelphia quarter eagle is roughly twice as rare but half as costly as an 1839 Charlotte quarter eagle (with its sexy obverse mintmark!) of similar grade. The 1839 New Orleans quarter eagle is almost four times more plentiful than the Philadelphia issue, but it still costs more. But I am only speculating that mintmark location contributes to a premium value above and beyond the well established "southern appeal" and I could be totally wrong.
Of course, you are right about the 1838-o, since its the only H10c from 1838 with a no-stars obverse. But, its late, and I'm definitely on the upward slope of a learning curve.
Thanks for explaining.
I agree, there is a definite appeal to those coins with the O mintmark on the obverse.
Possibly because of the classic rarity 1838-O half dollar that we saw in the Redbook as kids.
Congratulations, that's an exciting pick-up.
I have no opinion on whether you overpaid but the bottomline is you have it and most don't.
Also, hopefully you may have set the new going rate from here forward.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
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very nice ! congratulations !!!
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