Bought a bust half today

Morgan13

This is an unusual purchase for me. I love the luster. It's only a 63 but I felt the pros outweighed the cons and purchased it. It's one of those coins I know I would have wished I bought had I left without it.

asheland

Very nice!

CalifornianKing

Very very nice!

mlittle

very very very nice!

jayPem

Looks brand spankin new...
After almost 190 years 😀

spyglassdesign

Cool... We've got another bust half collector getting started... 😅😎 It's a very deep but interesting rabbit hole! Very nice pick up!!

pcgscacgold

Nice pick up. I will need to add that variety at some point. You found a nice one. I am a week ahead of you Bought my first CBH last Sunday.

johnny9434

Nice coin 🪙

Morgan13

It does depend on the lighting when imaging this coin. Looks better > @pcgscacgold said:

Nice pick up. I will need to add that variety at some point. You found a nice one. I am a week ahead of you Bought my first CBH last Sunday.

I'd love to see it!
I've always liked Bust Halves and I wanted to wait for one for my collection that would do it for me. This one works well for me.
Also thank you for the compliments.

HillbillyCollector

Really nice pickup!
Congrats!👍

Herb_T

Careful….you might find yourself buying more of them!

pursuitofliberty

Cert' didn't come up, but that's an interesting looking one. "1834 over 4", Overton 106.

Looks like a blazer, luster wise.

Congrat's on your new CBH. But I have to warn you, they're kinda like potato chips ... it's really hard to have just one!!

Pnies20

Are those roller marks on the obverse? If they are that’s pretty cool looking.

lkeigwin

Yes, looks like roller marks to me. Parallel lines from lower chin through upper turban. The Mint was having trouble with its rolling mill during this time frame.

I am not sure if that explains all the disturbances on the face. There may be some minor planchet issues too.

I don't know why the cert number doesn't come up on a look-up. Odd.

Love the luster. Reverse looks terrific.
Lance.

skier07

I’ll be Debbie Downer but your coin looks like it was dipped.

TomB

For the last few days the PCGS Cert Verification page has not always been working. I have had multiple attempts at cert verification of known, good numbers come up as an error. I would not worry about it at this time.

Morgan13

Are roller marks the same as adjustment marks?
It it possible it has been dipped although it still has full luster.
I was also thinking it could have been sent in for "restoration". I'll never know for sure.
I can tell you this much I really like it!

Morgan13

I took some addition images of the roller marks or adjustment marks. So this is an O-106 which is good to know, thank you @pursuitofliberty you really know your stuff.
The date does show some doubling on the 4 as mentioned. It's actually quite strong.
The black dots on the chin is definitely some schmutz. I wish it wasnt there and it really doesn't show up when eyeballing the coin.

Catbert

Fantastic close up pics! Well done!

lkeigwin

Adjustment marks and roller marks are much different.

In the early Mint years coins that were overweight after striking were brought into tolerance by harshly scraping away metal. The practice ceased decades before 1834.

Roller marks can occur when metal bars are rolled thin to make sheets for stamping out blanks or planchets. If the mill is not operating properly it can leave drawn lines on the surface (which sometimes are not fully obliterated when planchets are struck).

Rolling marks are not uncommon on bust halves from the early-mid 1830's.
Lance.

telephoto1

The fields look very nice on this piece. It seems to me they were a little bit hard on this one. Outside of the mark on the jaw and little carbon spot on the chin it's pretty darn nice. As to the rest, I'm in the "roller marks" camp on this one. All I can figure is that they took into consideration that this is one of the more populous issues and thus can be found sans roller marks, so they knocked a bit off the grade for that. Any thoughts?
Edit for clarity and typo

TomB

As @lkeigwin has already mentioned, roller marks and adjustment marks are not the same thing and the era of your coin is well known for roller marks. There are certain die marriages of half dollars in this time period that are often found with roller marks and this extends into the Reeded Edge half dollar series, as well.

As for the possibility that your coin has been dipped, I would suggest to you that there is near 100% certainty that the coin was dipped at least once in its lifetime and that PCGS was well aware of this when they certified the coin. Many folks prefer the look of nearly white or blast white for their MS silver and PCGS, NGC, CACG, ANACS, etc...don't mind it, either, as long as the coin generally has some luster left on its surfaces.

lilolme

The roller marks appear to be on the reverse also. The eagles right wing (viewers left) and down to the 50. Doing a coin flip (vertical) these lines would be the same direction as the obverse.

Since you note being a Morgan dollar collector, you should have seen similar marks. More often in the chin / jaw area or if unstuck in hair above ear or sometimes on flat struck eagle breast. Some had them through the fields (recall some early 90's O mint) but not near as often. The 1884 CC seemed to have them show up in the jaw / chin area somewhat often (one from coinfacts below).

Here is a thread I did for a little fun with adjustment marks showing some differences.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1075564/that-had-to-hurt#latest

Morgan13

@lilolme I definetly have seen roller marks on Morgan's. Sometimes Morgan's won't grade because of them.
I purchased this coin for its beautiful luster and eye appeal. The roller marks and the little ding on the chin are not noticeable with the naked eye. I did look at the coin with a loop before I bought it. I had to have it. Believe me I could have added a few nice Morgan's to my collection but this coin just hand cuffed me when I saw it. I'm just happy I had the cash to spare at the right time. This is not always the case.
Thank you for the compliments and the education.
Means alot to me.