johnny010 has a STORY coin!

burdell

Every coin has a story. Some are more notable than others ... long pedigree, high dollar value, unique etc.

Some coins have a simpler story, but interesting or intriguing just the same.

@johnny010 asked my opinion Tuesday at the ANA Pittsburgh about an 1888-o eagle appearing in the next day's auction. I looked at it and immediately responded "that's a story coin! I like it!"

Few Liberty eagles have obvious and readily visible mistakes, and this is one of them.

With a modest mintage of 21,300, the New Orleans Mint could coin them in 4 to 5 hours total press run time. I would speculate 2 to 4 short runs during the year depending upon demand and available blanks.

I would expect by 1888 the reviewers or inspectors or even counters ... somebody downstream the coiner would be well trained to catch this mistake. Both sides are obviously missing significant detail. The 45-degree rotation on the reverse could slip through.

Did both dies have grease (tallow or beeswax?) for this to happen? I understand NO can be hot and humid and dies need "protectants" to inhibit corrosion in storage. Procedures to remove it before use should be well established by 1888. Okay, it was 5 years since NO last made eagles in 1883, but was that a factor?

I will stop speculating, but it is fun. We will never know for sure what caused this to happen and permit it to enter circulation. Is this a story or a mystery? I'll still call it a story coin.

I recall @RYK posted an older half eagle with a similar look some years ago. I believe from a branch mint. Maybe he could repost the image again for a comparison. Thank you!

RobertScotLover

Interesting coin, what did it end up selling for?

skier07

Cool looking coin.

How did PCGS come up with a numerical grade? I’m not suggesting it should be in a details holder but I would have no idea how to grade it. Kind of like grading a territorial.

JA obviously wasn’t impressed.

johnny010

@RobertScotLover said:
Interesting coin, what did it end up selling for?

After BP, just over $4.

johnny010

@skier07 said:
Cool looking coin.

How did PCGS come up with a numerical grade? I’m not suggesting it should be in a details holder but I would have no idea how to grade it. Kind of like grading a territorial.

JA obviously wasn’t impressed.

JA is selective with gold, but I was and am impressed with this coin. @burdell thank you for the thoughts. Realizing this coin should never have left the mint this way, I wanted to add it to my collection. It also looks “neat” missing half the stars on the obverse.

justindan

Out of my knowledge base, but I know the Charlotte mint had problems with annealing the dies and that supposedly led to some details being weakly struck upon the planchets. Not sure if that is a possibility for this situation.

RYK

I have an 1844-O "No Stars" variety which similarly has faint stars over a portion of the obverse without the strike weakness on the reverse:

It looks more dramatic in-hand.

asheland

That’s actually very cool!

johnny010

@RYK said:
I have an 1844-O "No Stars" variety which similarly has faint stars over a portion of the obverse without the strike weakness on the reverse:

It looks more dramatic in-hand.

Very nice
Is there an attribution for this variety 😎
Maybe you’ll want the 44 and 88 to end up in the same home here in Texas. It’s a multiples thing.

Thanks for posting up.

johnny010

The 88-O arrived safe and sound from Stacks. @RYK was kind enough to sell his 44-O so the two could be together.

We call these the “No Stars” version.

leothelyon

Look.....if there's a rotated die strike, display this fact in every picture. It'll get additional attention and questions'inquirings.

Leo

Barberian

An 1845-O LDS WB-12 half with weak and missing stars from die polishing.

PeakRarities

@johnny010 said:

@skier07 said:
Cool looking coin.

How did PCGS come up with a numerical grade? I’m not suggesting it should be in a details holder but I would have no idea how to grade it. Kind of like grading a territorial.

JA obviously wasn’t impressed.

JA is selective with gold, but I was and am impressed with this coin. @burdell thank you for the thoughts. Realizing this coin should never have left the mint this way, I wanted to add it to my collection. It also looks “neat” missing half the stars on the obverse.

Perhaps JA treats it like the other errors, irrespective of whether or not the label says it. After all, CAC’s policy is that they don’t sticker errors.

lermish

@DeplorableDan said:

@johnny010 said:

@skier07 said:
Cool looking coin.

How did PCGS come up with a numerical grade? I’m not suggesting it should be in a details holder but I would have no idea how to grade it. Kind of like grading a territorial.

JA obviously wasn’t impressed.

JA is selective with gold, but I was and am impressed with this coin. @burdell thank you for the thoughts. Realizing this coin should never have left the mint this way, I wanted to add it to my collection. It also looks “neat” missing half the stars on the obverse.

Perhaps JA treats it like the other errors, irrespective of whether or not the label says it. After all, CAC’s policy is that they don’t sticker errors.

I like the theory but I'm not sure of that. I used to own this coin that was CAC approved with the dies clearly in a pretty bad state.