wanting to buy Bust Half, XF, what to look for?

mact

In my dealers cases he has many bust halves. Each time I go in I am drawn to them. It is a nice design and I am going to buy at least one. Anything in particular to look for? Don't they have a weak strike?


matt


edit for title

TomB

When you mention a circulate coin you are leaving a very large range open for possible purchase. Do you mean AU50+ coins or VG-VF coins?

JimD

Matt,
First of all if you could be a little more specific in the grade of "circulated" you are considering it would be helpful as there is quite a difference from Good to AU 58 in both price and quality. The lettered edge Bust Halves were produced with screw presses resulting a wide variation in strike quality. If you are looking for just one coin with a strong strike you might want to consider the Reeded Edge variety minted from 1836 to 1839. The Reeded Edge series were struck on steam powered presses resulting in a stronger and more consistent strike. One huge consideration is finding a problem free specimen and therefore I would recommend buying a coin that has been graded by PCGS,NGC, or ANACS. I have been "burned" on buying "Raw" coins on eBay more times than I like to admit to. I have, however, purchased a number of problem free "raw" halves from Rare Coins of New Hampshire and JJTeaparty that graded as advertised.

EVillageProwler

Matt,

For Capped Bust Halves, I suggest getting them in the ChEF to ChAU range. They are plentiful and relatively inexpensive when compared to the overall eye appeal. You should only choose nice, originally toned specimens with plenty of luster on them.

Many of these specimens, even the slabbed ones, have been cleaned and slowly retoned. Do not get these. Only go after the ones with nice remaining luster.

As you become more sophisticated in your tastes, you may want to pursue these coins by their Overton varieties. If so, you'll find that anything that is an Rarity-4 or better gets a premium. R-5's and better will bring a significant premium. It is these that you may have to settle for lightly cleaned specimens...

Good luck,

EVP

JNADAD

Here is a small piece of research from Coin Site.com with a good bibliography for further reading and a link to the mintages for the series.
CoinSite
Coinfacts.com

Russ

Look for one that does NOT look like this:





<< <i>I have been "burned" on buying "Raw" coins on eBay >>



I'm familar with that. See above.

Russ, NCNE

DrawTwo

Matt - I would echo all of the above comments, including JimD's dealer recommendations. It's a tough area, at least for a beginner like myself, but also very rewarding. Being something of a natural born risk-taker, I still buy raw off of e-bay, but with far, far more caution then I did earlier on. I have actually had some very positive experiences in that realm to mix in with the bad. But be prepared to get burned in the process.

Good luck!

mact

tomb,

i'd say vf/xf but more to xf.

matt

mact

thanks for the input. The coins at my dealer are in the vx to au range and better. He is pretty good with original coins and they are just pretty coins. He does not have them listed by Overton #. I'm thinking there might be a cherry-picking opportunity.

thanks again,

matt

BlueCole

You, know when i was first collecting, i would see pictures of bust halves in the books and stuff, and it didn't really do anything for me. But when i was in my dealers shop this week, i saw one, (it wasn't memorex!) and i thought, "ooh, gotta have one!!" First off, i didn't realize that they were a large as they were. I thought they were smaller coins, but when i saw it. . . . .

I might get into them, so this thread is really helping. More responses!!!!

B.

JimD

Here is an XF40

1823 XF40

goose3

For some unknown reason I find myself perusing through them on ebay. Last night I noticed quite a few No problem ANACS EF's on ebay!! check them out.

RotatedRainbows

LUSTER!! Even if the coin is somewhat weakly struck (which is common especially on the early dates) having a coin with a little less detail but nice cartwheel luster is better then having one with lots of detail and little luster. Most Busties have been cleaned but strong luster indicates that is was done right where as little luster indicates rough cleaning or over dipping (even if it does not have hairlines visible) so I have always used luster as a measure of the true quality of early bust coinage. Finding late die states can also be fun, like the coin listed below. I also have a few other photos available HERE

braddick

<< <i>Here is an XF40 1823 XF40 >>



XF40? What am I missing?
That's AU all day long.

JimD

Braddic--The 1823 was graded by PCGS and came from the Benson collection
RotatedRainbows--That "headless eagle" has to be the coolest Bust Half I've seen.

Here are some more Bust Half with grades ranging from VG8 to MS62
Early Half Dollars

mact

Well, I must say........NICE BUST HALVES!!!!

Input is excellent as always.

Question: what is wrong with Russ's coin? or is he joking

Question: do all bust halves have overton numbers?


thanks,
Matt

TomB

To answer two of your questions very quickly-

The half that Russ bought off ebay had been harshly cleaned, I did not wait for the image to load on my screen but I assume he is showing the hairlines on the coin.

All Bust halves have Overton numbers, they are simply the catalog of die pairings for the series. The Overton book may be found on ebay on occasion for about $50 and is well worth it.

mact

i guess i can't see the hairlines in Russ's coin

JimD

Matt, Russ couldn't see the hairlines either until he recieved the coin and saw it in person. That is an excellent example of the risk in buying raw coins.
The Overton numbers identify the different die marrages. There are over 450 different varieties, so the sky is the limit on this series.

mact

Ahhhhhh, hmmmmmm

thanks

TomB

Here are a few more in the attachments below. I have others but the images were not taken using the same conditions.

Russ

mact,

When I bought the coin, I thought I was getting a nice, mostly original coin with some character. Instead, I received a recently cleaned, hairlined piece stripped of all luster and dignity. Here is the scan of the coin as it appeared in the auction when I bought it.



Compare that to the scan above, and you can see why I was somewhat disappointed. This is what we classify as "live and learn". BTW, the coin is actually even much whiter in person then the first scan. Reminds me of dead bleached bones laying on the sand in the desert.

Russ, NCNE

DaveG

I, too, like Bust halves in VF-XF condition.

I've found that it's reasonably hard to find them in uncleaned condition, with a decent strike (I like a full motto on the reverse, personally) and with attractive (or at least not ugly) toning.

I only buy them in person, and haven't been looking that hard, but I've only bought two Bust halves over the past couple of years. I've found that it's a lot harder than you might think to find coins with a complete motto.

I'm sort-of afraid of getting sucked into Bust Half Fever - buying them by major variety, then chasing after rare Overton pairs, etc., but they really are very interesting coins.

After all, for most of the time they were being minted they were the US' largest coin denomination, as US gold was as rare as hen's teeth at that time. As a result, many of the coins served as bank reserves and as the contents of government payments, which is why so many of them still exist.

Personally, I find them much more interesting than their "bigger, younger brothers" that spent so much time in the Mint's vaults (because no one wanted them) that they got all bag marked and tarnished and you can still find zillions of them in high uncirculated grades!