1838 V-10a Half Dime
epc
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One date that got me started into obsessive pursuit of Seated half dime varieties and die states is 1838. Valentine lists 14 die marriages, one of which with two separate state listings. I wanted to get all of them. It turns out that some Valentine varieties are the same marriage, e.g., V-5 and V-4, and V-9 and V-13, in notably different die states. But one marriage in particular presents a large number of distinctive die states. That is the V-10, whose reverse is described by Valentine as "Similar to die of 1837 No. 2, but die badly broken between AMERICA and wreath." Coins from this die span the range from none of the described damage to a large area of die erosion, punctuated at the end by a spectacular clash of the entire obverse design, date, and stars. (See Gobrecht Journal #145 for an article about the one known specimen in that latest known state.)
In an exchange with @yosclimber, who is creating a much needed modern guide to the series, I suggested breaking V-10 into several states: V-10 (no damage), and V-10a through V-10i (for various stages, broken down by how many letters the damage touches and where, ending with the final clashed state). I had never seen a coin in state a, with damage touching only one letter (either R or I). Until today.
The damage begins at the bottom of the I. Here's the TrueView of the coin I found (and bought) on the internet today.
Alan
and what the heck, here's a later state of the reverse, just before the clash:
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
Comments
Wow, a very nice find!
The 1838 has been such a great date choice for collectible die varieties!
Could you help pinpoint the clash on the first ex, the bright and shiny non original example so that I can compare tot he darkly toned one please
The latest known state with the spectacular clash unfortunately is not mine. It was on ebay a couple years ago. It's a fairly heavily worn coin with some damage. It wouldn't be worth much if it weren't for the unique (so far) die state. I had bid a bit over $500, but it sold for $1550. Here's the ebay seller's reverse photo that I saved at the time.
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
The deep extreme clash has not yet occurred on the darkly toned example which has what we call extensive "crumbling".
@epc has identified about 10 distinct die states as the crumbling progresses from this newly discovered
starting point at the base of I in AMERICA.
Steve Crain @MrHalfDime had what he called a "mini-hoard" of the 1838 V-10 displaying several die states in the progression.
About midway in the progression, the mint folks stopped to polish up the dies to make a proof striking!
You can see the crumbling has reached the bases of MERIC but not yet A3.
This is quite an unusual coin.
Incidentally, the Cherrypickers' Guide incorrectly calls the 1838 V-10 (FS-901) a "rusted die",
and the above video by PCGScoin uses this terminology.
This is incorrect, because rust creates an area of die pits which create raised bumps on the coin,
and the area does not widen in later strikes.
Here, die "crumbling" (aka "spalling") is likely due to substandard metal or die heating,
which resulted in small flakes falling off the die in a progression as the affected area increased.
A couple of correct examples of die rust on half dimes are:
1838 V-1, V-2, aka "small stars", which I call "rusty arm". (Note: above coin is incorrectly attributed as "Large Stars").
1871 V-1, especially visible on the V-1 proofs, with their scattering of tiny raised bumps in the upper fields,
and all over Liberty's skirt, especially on her thigh.
"@epc has identified about 10 distinct die states..."
There are many more than 10 identifiable states. What I sought to do was group them into a manageable scheme that would not have an excessive number of categories and would not be subject to constantly finding "in-between" states that would need new "in-between" designations.
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
Great write up as well as fascinating, thanks
"the bright and shiny non original example"
Yeah, it certainly doesn't look original in the TV, but apparently good enough to be straight graded by PCGS. I'll see how it looks in hand before too long. Going after every variety I see (that fits in my budget and that seems reasonably priced for what it is) does require that I get some cleaned, damaged, and unattractive coins. I do try to avoid really "ugly" stuff, and wait for better to come along. But even some "problem" coins can be cool coins.
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
It's certainly got a lot of original surfaces, i.e. no wear.
And a very big advantage of an untoned coin is that nothing is obscured by toning, so they are great for spotting die features in a high resolution photo like a TrueView.
An untoned coin is always my first choice for a plate coin, for this reason.
Got the coin in the mail Saturday. Here are my new photos for comparison with the TV.
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states