A Half Dime Cert Error Caught My Eye
epc
Posts: 257 ✭✭✭✭✭
There's a new half dime listing, supposedly an 1853-O No Arrows in NGC XF40.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/116396979387?itmmeta=01JD2NB9JTM030T6A9PD3B6YZP&hash=item1b19ccf4bb:g:asQAAOSwWcFnPLeX&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAAAwMxmj+iGvOveHXEBClPb29gxrL9Bmb6gcwEbezR4YQLzqKp5AW9/Mv4Tib8CYX4ITceq189hWWZ3wW5lToJAEBKzBDnT2HNykghuOMoHgSgJb71pJUlbdDVBYdrB4QHsBdfP5X/r+S3ey68XZncsLg5isy3zKD9YXd1sY3ZWiKi/aSllIPp69W/Jzh9KMsRgfjBqqbHdYiowlSZZhnbmxlhlurljTd8AmAqbVTaLLnZqLNSkhlGj/riTfI3uDEAkqg==|tkp:Bk9SR7yZrdXoZA
But the date position looked off, and I checked more closely. It is actually an 1858-O V-4a. Other indicators include: It's clearly from a die made from the obverse hub reworked in 1857; the mint mark position is wrong; those items and a reverse crack between S2 and O match the 1858-O V-4a. The seller's photos are good enough to see that the "3" is really an 8. I have notified the seller.
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
Comments
Huh. I wonder if NGC calls it "mechanical error."
which date would be worth more?
Take a guess.
The 1853-O NA Redbook price in EF40 is $3000.
The 1858-O Redbook price in EF40 is $80.
Was the 8 altered to a 3?
To me that is a blatant mistake on NGC's part. The date position is too low and and the 3 is all wrong. It is very obviously an altered date.
Custom album maker and numismatic photographer.
Need a personalized album made? Design it on the website below and I'll build it for you.
https://www.donahuenumismatics.com/.
I'm not sure it's an altered date.
The moved metal in the lower loop of the 8 might just be a contact mark,
and the dark portion in the upper loop may have occurred randomly.
It could be a simple "mechanical error", i.e. the grader did not look closely at the date, or somebody made a data entry error.
I've seen a seated dime in a TPG slab labelled as a seated half dime in a Heritage auction many years ago.
Mistakes get made and once it's in a slab some people might not look closely?
Yeah, it looks to me like a damaged 8, with some crud, so not necessarily altered. There's enough of the 8 still there to tell it was always an 8.
)
@yosclimber - Yeah, I own an 1837 seated dime certified as a half dime. I have a small but growing collection of cert errors (wrong date, wrong mint, wrong denomination, wrong variety, oh, and wrong grade...
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
Could even be a lamination on the 8. Bottom line is that it is not a 3.
Definitely an 1858. With something going on, and whatever is going on is a nothing burger
Good find - the seller has closed the listing.
The streak running down the middle of the coin has appeared to damage the second 8, I do not believe it is an intentional alteration.
Significant error on NGC's part, they should probably step in and get that coin off the market.