Some early halves (disclaimer: large pics)

rhedden

For your amusement, here are some early halves I picked up before the prices went crazy. The 1795 has small area of rust or planchet impurity above the head, so I'm afraid to send it to PCGS. The 1803 has a small patch of very faint hairlines next to the date, so it won't be going to PCGS either. The others ought to certify. Comments welcome.

dthigpen

<< <i>For your amusement, here are some early halves I picked up before the prices went crazy. The 1795 has small area of rust or planchet impurity above the head, so I'm afraid to send it to PCGS. The 1803 has a small patch of very faint hairlines next to the date, so it won't be going to PCGS either. The others ought to certify. Comments welcome. >>



Should just slab them with ANACS if you're concerned about PCGS slabbing them.

Baley

Wow, very nice group of halves

I like your 1795 as a Fine+ details, a few small problems nets VG-10 or so.
The 1801- a rare coin in any grade- looks to be a problem-free Fine-12 or maybe 15, very nice!
Super nice 1803, seems like a strong Very Fine 35, put her in an envelope for 5 or 10 years and it's an EF.
Your 1805 is also a little white for my taste but I like it as a very fine also, 20 or 25.
Nice pair of 1807s, Fine+ and VG+ respectively, I really like the first one a lot, great cracks on the rev.

thanks for sharing these pics (my grades are conservative, I think, some would bump them up one level)

mgoodm3

1795 is nice. I like the look of the 1801.

Cladiator

I really like the 1801

Nysoto

Nice PreTurban halves, I like all of them. The 1801 was an especially nice catch. Just stopped at the Library, I will test my memory 1795 110, 1801 101, 1803 103, 1805 106, 1807 105a, 1807 109?

Bill

edit - the 1805 obverse is the only die in the bust half series that was used, then overdated. It quickly broke apart on 1806/5 O.104b.

rhedden

I'm glad everyone likes the 1801. I got it for a song at a Vienna, VA coin show 3 years ago. Stupidly, I passed up on an 1802 that the same dealer offered to me. The 1802 was an F-15/VF-20 (little better detail than the 1801) with 3 or 4 wispy hairlines on the obverse that caused me to pass. He wanted a measly $800 for it, and I didn't get it because of a couple of tiny hairlines that probably wouldn't have kept it out of a holder. At the time, the Redbook value was something like $550 in VF (like as if they ever traded for that). I was Dumb with a capital "D" for walking away from that 1802. These days I can probably buy a nice overgraded slabbed 1802 in similar condition for about $2,500.

P.S., I need to take new photos of the 1805. It looks like a dipped VF-20 in my washed out pics, but it's actually a gorgeous, originally toned VF-35++ with nice surfaces and a bit of luster between the stars.

RotatedRainbows

I think they look just fine the way they are!! Nice busties like those will always get full value when sold to knowledgeable collector so there is really no reason to have them slabbed. Also it is nice just to be able to handle pieces that old and really feel the coin instead of just a piece of plastic.

OnlyBuffalos

SPLENDID!!!

Baley

TTT for this excellent thread, here are a few more early halves for fans of the series to look at:

Link

ElectricEye

beautiful examples - send em to ANACS

TomB

It looks like there was an attempt to repair the 1795 behind the head rather than simply a rough planchet. Of course, you have the coin in-hand and would know much better what it truly looks like. The 1801 is quite nice, too bad you passed on the 1802. At the Baltimore show I was able to pick up a completely original VF 1801 and am quite happy about it.