1857 Blue Rim-Toned Seated Liberty Half - ** New Photos - Before & After!! **
Stuart
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Here are a couple of my new (raw) coin purchases from the recent Houston S.W. Money show in January, which I photographed today to share with fellow forum members.
Mike Faraone's (ANACS) verbal opinion of them is that the 1826 Bust Half is AU-55 and the 1857 Seated Liberty Half is mint state net-graded down to AU-58 for very light hairlines and some very minor scratching. Both were purchased with open eyes as Choice AU coins.
The Bust Half has Semi-PL surfaces which are more reflective on the reverse, and the Seated Liberty Half has an incredibly strong strike and beautiful dark blue peripheral toning suroounding both the obverse & reverse of the coin. Both coins look a bit "washed out" in the natural sunlight photos that I took today -- they look better in person!!
I am extremely pleased with both purchases, with a slight favorite being the SL Half because the coin exhibits full mint luster and not a sign of wear. Enjoy the pictures!!
Mike Faraone's (ANACS) verbal opinion of them is that the 1826 Bust Half is AU-55 and the 1857 Seated Liberty Half is mint state net-graded down to AU-58 for very light hairlines and some very minor scratching. Both were purchased with open eyes as Choice AU coins.
The Bust Half has Semi-PL surfaces which are more reflective on the reverse, and the Seated Liberty Half has an incredibly strong strike and beautiful dark blue peripheral toning suroounding both the obverse & reverse of the coin. Both coins look a bit "washed out" in the natural sunlight photos that I took today -- they look better in person!!
I am extremely pleased with both purchases, with a slight favorite being the SL Half because the coin exhibits full mint luster and not a sign of wear. Enjoy the pictures!!
Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
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Comments
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
It's hard for me to believe that is the first SL Half that I've ever owned... I have several other Capped Bust Halves and Seated Liberty Dollars...
Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
Choice examples
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Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
John
siliconvalleycoins.com
Abracadabra...and behold a pair of Very Nice Classics!
Very nice Bust Half. It would look great in my type set.
42/92
The grading services really penalize for any wiping marks, but are generous with contact marks from other coins. This is a raw coin, and it could pass the mint state test if submitted. It may be worth a try...
Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
Bust Half & FSB Merc Collector
The capped bust half experts can likely add more explanations, but the 1826 looks to me to be a late state for the obverse die -- showing the stars drawn toward the rims. This is also likely responsible for the weakness in the tops of Liberty's hair curls, so it's probably weakness from the strike, NOT from wear.
The 1857 certainly doesn't show its wear (if there is any). I'm guessing it might have been wiped lightly some time ago, and that is what caused the light hairlines you mentioned. The sharp break in the toning between the rims and the centers seems a bit too much of a contrast (to me) to have resulted purely from album toning. So it may be that at some point someone lightened the centers of the coin. This is one I'd wait to slab. A little time in an album or coin envelope would add some toning to the centers to lessen the contrast and reduce the appearance of the hairlines. I imagine it would look even more stunning then!
I will study both coins carefully with my binocular microscope with your thoughts in mind, and will update you on my conclusions afterwards. Thanks again for providing me with your guidance!!
Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
The Bust Half is nice also. I am 99% sure that it's O-108, but something seems to be missing; I agree with Cardinal's observation that it seems to be a very late die state due to the drawn stars and deterioration of the milling. That would possibly put it at O-108a. The problem is that both O-108 and 108a have prominent die cracks. I think that the die cracks are not showing up in the images, but are in fact there. Could you please confirm this for me? If they are not visible, then I will provide some possibilities regarding the absense of the breaks.
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Nothing beats a great looking Bust Half, but that Seated Liberty sure comes close.
Randy
The Whisker Cheek Collection - Top 50 Peace VAM Registry
Landmark Buffalo Collection
roadrunner
Indeed, I found a very prominent die crack extending from about 12:30 at the top of the obverse extending from the top of Miss Liberty's cap down through the stars on the left side of the coin. The prominent die crack extends downward through the left side stars beginning from the inside of the stars, and crossing over to the outside of stars at the 4th star from the bottom left and ending at the outside rim at the 2nd star from the bottom left.
There's also a die crack through the top portion of the date on the coin.
Does that provide you with the information that you requested???
Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
I'm going to try to take some better photos of both the Bust Half and the Seated Liberty Half this week, as I get used to the new copy stand that I just purchased on Friday from JBS. The Seated Liberty Half has tons more mint luster than depicted in my earlier photo on this thread, and also concentric blue peripheral toning against a light brown toned foreground on both the obverse and the reverse. The blue toning (which looks inky blackish on this photo) is really a beautiful metallic blue color.
As Baley, CoinGuy1 and others have previously stated on this forum, I agree that a coin collection should reflect the personal tastes of the collector with some common theme(s) tying together the various coins. In my case I love the metallic blue rim "album" toned coins exhibited on this Seated Liberty Half, My 1799 Bust Dollar and now my newest acquisition the 1898 Proof Morgan Dollar. I've also got a Bust Quarter (small size) with similar characteristics...
I'll have to take a photo of this type set of coins to show them in one photo for comparison purposes... I'll work on that this week...
Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
In any event, thanks for sharing! Nice hit!
Dave
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Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
Good job!
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I think that it was a good choice for my first SLH, because it fits in so well with my 1799 Bust Dollar and my new 1898 Proof Morgan which have similar toning patterns & coloration.
Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
Dennis
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I'm really pleased with the improved photographs which really display the full mint luster of the coin, and the color of the toning better than my original Photos.
Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
The eagle looks ready to strike in the new pics and kind of lazy in the originals.
That seated half is an absolute beauty and well worth some very strong AU58 money IMHO. What scuffs exist are easily overwhelmed by the luster and raw eye appeal.
Thanks for sharing it with us!
The other two were the Prooflike 1826 Capped Bust Half which I have posted in another recent thread, and an NGC AU-55 1883-S Morgan with beautiful original light brown toning.
It's a lot of fun being able to share photos of coins with fellow forum members who also appreciate the beauty of them
Thanks again to Frank (FC57Coins) for "rounding off" the following images of my 1857 Seated Liberty Half Much appreciated!!
Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"