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Tassa
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I'm not sure if anyone has posted this link or not, but I thought this was an interesting story....
Coin Collector Strikes Silver
Coin Collector Strikes Silver
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Capped Bust Half Series
Capped Bust Half Dime Series
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The photo on the lower left shows a close up of the open bud. The photo in the middle shows a close up of the closed bud. The arrows are showing the bud. The close up photo of the shield shows a raised file mark that helps to identify the open bud die that was used to strike the newly identified half dollar.
Capped Bust Half Series
Capped Bust Half Dime Series
"Previously unknown variety blooms
Proof 1878 Seated Liberty half dollar has Open Bud reverse"
"A Proof 1878 Seated Liberty half dollar bearing a reverse that a specialist in the series says was previously unconfirmed for the date has been authenticated by ANACS.
The Proof coin has what specialists call the Open Bud reverse (or Type I reverse) instead of the expected Closed Bud reverse (Type II). The bud (or berry, as it is called in some references) appears toward the end of the branch held in the eagles feet, above the H in Half.
Beginning in 1876, the MInt introduced a modified version of the reverse of the Seated Liberty half dollar. Previously, the lower bud or berry at the left end of the branch (from the viewer's perspective; it is actually the right end of the branch) had been open, as though it were blooming. A new hub was introdued that year with a bud that is closed.
Dies of both subtypes were used in 1878 and 1877 for circulation strikes. All circulation strikes produced from 1878 on appear to have been struck from Closed Bud dies.
The Open Bud reverse subtype remained in use for Proof Seated Liberty half dollars for several years longer than for the circulation strikes. Confirmed Proofs bearing the Open Bud reverse are 1877,1879 and 1881. A Proof 1880 Seated Liberty half dollar with Open Bud reverse remains unconfirmed.
No Proof 1878 Seated Liberty half dollars previously had been authenticated as having been struck from the Open Bud reverse. All of the known specimens had been struck from a Closed Bud reverse.
That changed when coin dealer Frank M. Zapushek, Baker Numismatics, Bloomington, Ill., identified a specimen Jan. 22 that he had bought at auction recently. When he realized what he had identified, he sent photographs of the coin to specialist Randy Wiley, co-author with Bill Bugert of The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars. Wiley confirmed the identification of the reverse from the photographs.
ANACS, the grading and authentication service in Dublin, Ohio, subsequently confirmed the reverse and graded the coin Proof 62. The label on the ANACS slab describes the coin as having a "Type I Rev."
Michael Fahey, senior authenticator and grader at ANACS, told Coin World Feb. 19 that this was the first such coin the service had authenticated since the reverse difference had been pointed out to them. He said he could not be sure what reverses might have appeared on previous Proof 1878 Seated Liberty half dollars authenticated by the firm, since the firm did not attribute the coins by reverse variety.
The authentication confirms a comment Walter Breen made in his 1977 Encyclopedia of United States and Proof Colonial Coins in the listing for Proof 1878 Seated Liberty half dollar. "Two varieties both with Type II rev(pointed berry above H), though I have a vague recollection fo seeing a single example with the old split berry or Type I die."
However, Breen dropped any reference to the coin in his 1988 Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins.
The Wiley-Bugert book, published in 1993, does not list a Proof 1878 Seated Liberty half dollar with the Open Bud reverse.
Wiley told Coin World Feb. 19 that after viewing photographs of the coin provided him by Zapushed, he confirmed that the reverse is not only an Open Bud reverse, but is the same reverse die used to strike the Proof 1877, 1879 and 1881 Seated Liberty half dollars. He bases that identification on a raised file mark within the reverse shield. The mark appears at the far right of the shield, between the rightmost stripes and the edge of the shield. Zapushek's discovery of the coin, 125 years after it was struck, came in January.
He describes his "first love(as) research and variety hunting, along with helping new and experienced collectors. (My) next love is taking macro and photomicrographs of coins, with over 10,000 photographs in my library."
Zapushek described by e-mail how he came in identify the variety: "As I check coins for varieties, I separate the coins by type and denomination. Then I open my reference books for the coins I am examining."
He examined the 1878 Seated Liberty half dollar for two days. He said he believed he was missing something on the coin, so he set it aside for several days.
Zapushek said: " I picked up the coin and instantly, knew what I had been missing. The coin had a Type I reverse or Open Bud reverse. I took about 20 macro photographs of the obverse and the reverse. Than I set up my microscope for detailed photographs of the die markaers. I took about 20 photographs of die markers..."
After Wiley confirmed Zapushek's identification from the photos sent him, the Illinois dealer sent the coin to ANACS, the grading service he prefers for authenticating and slabbing die varieties. It confirmed the find.
Zapushed noted that while he has discovered new varieties in the past, this find was "the biggest variety discovery of my life. It is very hard to believe that after 125 years, I almost missed this variety. How may collectors have owned this coin the the last 125 years? How many dealers have sold this coin in the last 125 years?
An answer to the question of whether other Proof 1878 Seated Liberty half dollars with the Open Bud reverse await discovery and confirmation may come soon.
New discoveries may occur as collectors and dealers with Proof 1878 Seated Liberty half dollars in their collections and inventories begin examining them to detect the style of bud. (See photos in above post)
Wiley, a Virginia resident, plans to start looking for additional specimens at several upcoming conventions in Baltimore.
Zapushek said the coin is not for sale, but may be consigned to auction later this year."
Capped Bust Half Series
Capped Bust Half Dime Series