Show and Tell - 1833 Bust 5c

Craton

This coin was given to me by a member of the WINS club. I won it in a late night e-mail list contest. It's the oldest and neatest coin in my collection.

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TUMUSS

Please send it to me for safe-keeping.

coinlieutenant

bust coinage is cool!

airplanenut

Great coin! I need one for my type set... I also need to see those high-res images (stupid dial-up when I'm not at home )

LanLord

JrGMan2004

LM 3, R2... most likely 3.1 or 3.2, but it's always tough for me to tell which remarriage it is... But it was probally the original marriage, or the first remarriage

oreville

Landlord:

Nice nose on that 1835!

Craton

<< <i>LM 3, R2... most likely 3.1 or 3.2, but it's always tough for me to tell which remarriage it is... But it was probally the original marriage, or the first remarriage >>



OK, please tell me exactly what all of that means

JrGMan2004

Sorry Sometimes forget I'm not always talking to Bust Specialists LM-3 is the designation for the marriage of this obverse and reverse die for the year 1833... some times, the same Reverse can be found on coins from 3 or 4 different years, though this is rare. Often times, one die (For example, the Obverse Die) was removed from service for repairs, and another Obverse die was put on. That Obverse die may have later been removed, and the original Obv die put back into service with the same Reverse die. This is a Remarriage. If there is a remarriage, then that is LM-3.2 and the original marriage isd LM-3.1. Usually, the telling signs for which remarriage the coin is, is usually in the die states, but can sometimes be tough, as generally when a die was taken out of service, it was to repair it...

So, in the case of your coin, it is Obv Die 2 for the year 1833 and the Reverse is Reverse T. If it is the original marriage, it is the first use of Obv 2 and the 3rd use of Rev T. For LM-3.2, the first remarriage of the pair, it is still the first use of Obv 2 (As it hadn't been paired with another reverse die) and it is the 7th use of Rev T, then for LM-3.3, still the first use of Obv-2, and the Ninth use of Rev T. For LM-3.4, it is the Third use of Obv 2, and the 11th use of Rev-T... In the case of Obv-2, it was used 8 times before being retired... Rev-T was used 13 times before being retired... and this die ended up with a VERY cool Cud!!

Edited to add: Oh, and as for the R2... that's Rarity-2 in case you didn'y know... and that's "Fairly common with 501-1000 believed to remain in existance"

Craton

Thanks George. That is some pretty interesting stuff!