Got a Little info about My Seated Half Dime
Purple73
Posts: 2,016 ✭
I have shared this Half Dime with you guys and Gals before and got a few PM's because of it. Lathmach suggested I give Stephen Crain a call about this coin if I wanted any Info on Rarity and such. Well, I finally got around to it yesterday. I talked with Stephen for just a few minutes and told him that I was new to the LSCC and I had picked this neat Half Dime up at a coin show in my area. I described the coin to him and asked him if he would like to take a look at it for me and give me some info on it and attribute it. He gladly accepted and gave me his email address to ship some photos. I checked my email late last night(before work) and check this out! Stephen Crain is one cool dude I tell ya! Thank you Lathmach for your help!
The Coin:
Email From Stephen Crain
Chris:
Thank you for contacting me regarding your interesting half dime, and for sending the images for me to study and attribute. I always enjoy talking half dimes with others who appreciate them as much as I do.
First, let me welcome you to the Liberty Seated Collectors Club, and to the fascinating world of collecting these early Federal issues. Hopefully you will continue to collect coins of the Liberty Seated design, some of the most beautiful in American numismatics. The half dimes are a very good series to begin with, due to their relative availability and comparative low cost. Of all of the Liberty Seated denominations, the half dimes are the 'easiest' to complete by date and mint, and provide almost limitless varieties to interest even the veteran collector.
The spectacular 1839-O half dime that you acquired is an example of one of the most severely shattered reverse dies in the entire series. It is a very late die state (VLDS) of what we now know to be Valentine's V4, first reported by John McCloskey in Issue #35 of the Gobrecht Journal, and also shown on page 112 of Collective Volume #3 (if you have not already done so, I encourage you to purchase copies of all four of the Collective Volumes of the Gobrecht Journals, available through John McCloskey). Dr. Valentine was not aware of this very late die state of his V4, and it went unreported until 1986. In John's article, he also did not attribute it, but through extensive die studies I have been able to attribute it as a V4 VLDS. I have several examples of the V4, in all die states, and can see the progression of the die cracks into the retained cuds seen on your coin. Interestingly, these cuds must have occurred rather suddenly, as all known late state examples show precisely the same die deterioration, and there are very few of them, seemingly indicating that the coiner removed the reverse die from service after striking only a few coins with the massive cuds.
For the Liberty Seated half dimes, the reverse die was the anvil (bottom) die in the coining press, and the obverse die was the hammer (upper) die. Thus, the reverse die was surrounded by the collar, a steel plate which imparted the reeding onto the edges of the coins. The collar tended to hold together the reverse die if it broke and shattered as seen on your V4. Had this occurred to the obverse die, gravity alone would have caused the broken die pieces to fall away, and the coining press would have been stopped immediately. Nonetheless, this is one of the most severely shattered dies in the entire series.
I have seen only a few examples of this severely shattered reverse variety, and have owned only two in this same die state. I presently have six (6) examples of the V4, in differing die states, showing the progression of the die deterioration, both obverse and reverse. It is indeed quite scarce, and a great find for the half dime enthusiast. In the pending half dime census, you should report it as a V4.
I will assume that you will choose to keep your coin, but should you decide to sell it, I would be interested in it. I am compiling data on all die marriages within the series for a pending book that I hope to one day publish. It will be a comprehensive encyclopedia on the series, identifying all known die marriages in the series. Valentine, in 1931, reported 257 'varieties' for the Liberty Seated half dimes, and I have now identified over 500 die marriages and counting.
Thank you once again for contacting me, and for sending the images of your interesting half dime. Please feel free to contact me at this email address at any time to discuss the United States half dimes, of all series.
Regards,
Steve Crain
LSCC #1017
Thank you:
Lathmach
and
Stephen Crain
The Coin:
Email From Stephen Crain
Chris:
Thank you for contacting me regarding your interesting half dime, and for sending the images for me to study and attribute. I always enjoy talking half dimes with others who appreciate them as much as I do.
First, let me welcome you to the Liberty Seated Collectors Club, and to the fascinating world of collecting these early Federal issues. Hopefully you will continue to collect coins of the Liberty Seated design, some of the most beautiful in American numismatics. The half dimes are a very good series to begin with, due to their relative availability and comparative low cost. Of all of the Liberty Seated denominations, the half dimes are the 'easiest' to complete by date and mint, and provide almost limitless varieties to interest even the veteran collector.
The spectacular 1839-O half dime that you acquired is an example of one of the most severely shattered reverse dies in the entire series. It is a very late die state (VLDS) of what we now know to be Valentine's V4, first reported by John McCloskey in Issue #35 of the Gobrecht Journal, and also shown on page 112 of Collective Volume #3 (if you have not already done so, I encourage you to purchase copies of all four of the Collective Volumes of the Gobrecht Journals, available through John McCloskey). Dr. Valentine was not aware of this very late die state of his V4, and it went unreported until 1986. In John's article, he also did not attribute it, but through extensive die studies I have been able to attribute it as a V4 VLDS. I have several examples of the V4, in all die states, and can see the progression of the die cracks into the retained cuds seen on your coin. Interestingly, these cuds must have occurred rather suddenly, as all known late state examples show precisely the same die deterioration, and there are very few of them, seemingly indicating that the coiner removed the reverse die from service after striking only a few coins with the massive cuds.
For the Liberty Seated half dimes, the reverse die was the anvil (bottom) die in the coining press, and the obverse die was the hammer (upper) die. Thus, the reverse die was surrounded by the collar, a steel plate which imparted the reeding onto the edges of the coins. The collar tended to hold together the reverse die if it broke and shattered as seen on your V4. Had this occurred to the obverse die, gravity alone would have caused the broken die pieces to fall away, and the coining press would have been stopped immediately. Nonetheless, this is one of the most severely shattered dies in the entire series.
I have seen only a few examples of this severely shattered reverse variety, and have owned only two in this same die state. I presently have six (6) examples of the V4, in differing die states, showing the progression of the die deterioration, both obverse and reverse. It is indeed quite scarce, and a great find for the half dime enthusiast. In the pending half dime census, you should report it as a V4.
I will assume that you will choose to keep your coin, but should you decide to sell it, I would be interested in it. I am compiling data on all die marriages within the series for a pending book that I hope to one day publish. It will be a comprehensive encyclopedia on the series, identifying all known die marriages in the series. Valentine, in 1931, reported 257 'varieties' for the Liberty Seated half dimes, and I have now identified over 500 die marriages and counting.
Thank you once again for contacting me, and for sending the images of your interesting half dime. Please feel free to contact me at this email address at any time to discuss the United States half dimes, of all series.
Regards,
Steve Crain
LSCC #1017
Thank you:
Lathmach
and
Stephen Crain
0
Comments
Steven Crain is a gentleman and a scholar. I have the honor to discuss half dimes with him at the major shows. He's carrying the torch for our fallen comrades like Russ Logan. At the FUN show, JrGMan and Steve just happened upon my table at approximately the same time, so I introduced them to each other. After George left, Steve mentioned to me that he was happy to see young guys interested in the research of half dimes. There's a notable lack of youth in the hobby today.
Regarding your half dime, I remember when you posted it before and was shocked to see it. Even seeing it again in this thread makes my head spin. What a cool coin!
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That's quite a find!
Yes,those seated coins are often overlooked.Especially those half dimes.Some dealer's don't have good enough eyesight to check the dates for repunching,etc.
Congrats!
-Hayden
42/92
PURPLE!
I've seen it in your icon picture, but never noticed the breakage until now!