1848-O Half Dime - A new die marriage

epc

I recently purchased the pictured coin. The position of the Large O mint mark does not match any of the others used that year (in the V-1, V-3, V-6 and V-7 marriages). It is very low and to the right. In @yosclimber 's draft guide for the issue (almost 6 years old), the V-2, V-3, V-4 and V-5 all used the same obverse die. The obverse of my new coin (let's call it V-9 for now) looks about the same. But I noticed in it a die line in the drapery, almost parallel to the pole. This die line also appears in my VG V-5 and in the NGC MS 62 V-5 from the Crain collection (#1724), and not in coins of the other three marriages. If the V-5 and V-9 used the same obverse die as V-2, V-3 and V-4, then they would have to be later uses. But those V-5 and V-9 coins do not have cracks seen in those other marriages. Thus, the V-5 and V-9 must have used a similar but different obverse than V-2, V-3, and V-4.

Edited to add: Note also in the V-9 reverse the crack at UNIT tops and in places in the denticles.

V-9

1848-O Large O Reverse Dies:

V-1 reverse

V-3 reverse

V-6 reverse

V-7 reverse (same as that of V-3)

A couple 1848-O Obverse Dies for comparison:

V-4 Obverse - no die line in drapery

V-5 Obverse (Crain #1724) - die line in drapery

Hey Clint, please don't tell me that you and/or Frank already knew about this...

• Alan

yosclimber

Wow, Alan - great find!
I will search my photo collection for more examples.
And time to update the guide!

Southcounty

Wow, those cracks in the denticles are awesome. Have you checked other known reverses that might have carried over? Very cool!

yosclimber

I checked my photos of Frank's 1848-O half dimes that I had attributed to V-3.
I found 3 examples of your new V-9, so this is great confirmation of the new die pair.

VF-30


VF-25


G-5

I also confirmed that the V-5s in sufficiently high grade all exhibit the obverse die line right of the pole which you found.

epc

@Southcounty said:
Wow, those cracks in the denticles are awesome. Have you checked other known reverses that might have carried over? Very cool!

There are other half dimes with die cracks in the denticles, sometimes clearly starting/ending toward the edge, sometimes not. Most are less extensive than in the 1848-O V-9 reverse. But while we're in a 48-O thread, here's the V-8 with a Medium O reverse with cracks in the denticles over TED and ES. Part of the former becomes a cud in a V-2 re-marriage. (@yosclimber, have I shown you this?)

V-8, NGC AU Details

V-2 re-marriage, PCGS VF 30

yosclimber

Your V-8 is quite nice with all those visible cracks.
Two things I failed to include in my photos of the V-8 cracks in the guide are:
1. RI joined at base. Visible in your V-8 and V-2.
2. Heavy vertical die break in center leaf between DIME and ER. This is not prominent in your V-8 photo, probably because of the particular lighting angle. Below is one of Frank's MS-63 V-8s that shows it quite well.

This die break might be present in your V-2, but with the wear, it's hard to be sure.
The photo does not rule it out.

yosclimber

Yes, you have shared your V-2 remarriage with me before (July 25, 2024).
It is quite a special coin. I have not been able to find a second example with the dentil cud above T1E1.

In 2018 somebody (I don't recall who) thought the Blythe AU-53 details ANACS 4049129
was a second example with the dentil cud. But now I know the terminal die state has to have the RI joined at base,
which the Blythe coin does not have.

I wrote on my "To Do" list for 1848-O to add die states for V-2 and V-8.
But to do that accurately, I need to understand the die state progression of this reverse.
The current version seems to be wrong, where for V-8 I wrote "LDS crack TES tops".
This was a lazy way of saying I see this crack on some coins but not others,
without actually being sure of the die state progression.

Looking now, I can see this crack at top of TES in 2 of Crain's high grade V-2s.

Crain #969 V-2 MDS AU-50

Crain #637 V-3 LDS EF-45

Originally I thought there should be:
V-2 with no rev cracks
V-2a with crack at E3
V-2b with dentil cud above T1E1
but since there is only one known V-2b I'm not sure it should be done that way.

And to call V-2b a remarriage would require knowing the die state progression
and at what point the remarriage(s?) occurred.
With very few high grade coins available, this may not be possible to determine.

Similarly there are V-5A and V-5B defined by cracks in the dentils but only visible on 2 high grade coins.
They could be added, but are not very "collectible".
My magic number seems to be "2" to have a die state be collectible, and be more confident it is a die
feature we are seeing, and not some unusual post mint damage. I don't think your V-2b is PMD,
but if there was a second example that would make it easier to be confident.