St. Helena variety?

tbirde56

I just got a second 1821 half penny and noticed the first one doesn't have a dot under the St. Can anyone check theirs for comparison. Has anyone ever heard of a No Dot variety?

1jester

Mine's got the dot.

Interesting discovery. I hope one of them's worth a bundle. In fact, I hope the one with the dot's the rare one!

spinaker2000

Mine has the dot too.

farthing

Mine has the dot also.

spinaker2000

Too bad Brad, looks like your dot fell off!!

tbirde56

One would think that after 183 years someone would have noted this variety if it had occurred on more than a handful of pieces. I was going to put it on my Extras list but I think I'll hang onto it for a while. If anyone learns anything more about it please let me know!

satootoko

Have you examined it under a 30x scope to see if there is any sign of removal

tbirde56

I only have a small 10x loupe to check it out but that and a 2400 dpi scan still show nothing unusual:


There are also diecracks that extend straight towards the center from the rim as far as the wreath. They are at 12'oclock, between 1 and 2 o'clock and between 3 and 4 o'clock. Does anyone have similar diecracks?

farthing

No die cracks on mine.

spinaker2000

mine has reverse die cracks at 6:00 and 10:00, and on the obv at 6:00.

tbirde56

hmmm...
cool mystery anyway.

tbirde56

Update:
From Baldwins Coins on the island itself...

I have been looking into your query. As far as I am aware, the variety has
not been documented, but a quick check on a handful of pieces here turned up
four in a couple of minutes, so it is not rare. The dots also vary in size.
However, with an issue of over 700,000 pieces one would expect a large
number of dies. The dot also seems prone to clogging in the die, as it is
sometimes present but not well struck up. Interesting.