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1000th post: half dimes, what else?
rhedden
Posts: 6,619 ✭✭✭✭✭
Well, it's time for my 1000th post, and I thought I'd post a gigantic image that will surely crash the server & kill the dial-uppers. It's a composite picture of all of the half dimes in my collection, making this thread a "virtual coin album". It took 1 hour+ to put this composite picture together, so I think I'll pass on doing the reverses. I also think this would be an extremely bad time to have a 1000th post giveaway. However, if anyone else has a "complete collection" they'd like to post, here's a good thread for it. And one last thing: yes, I know the fake woodgrain background is distracting / ugly / looks like crap, but I happen to like plywood and plan to continue using it! There, I said it!
Edited to add: the 1865-s, and to somewhat fix the white balance, as suggested.
Edited to add: the 1865-s, and to somewhat fix the white balance, as suggested.
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Edited to add: Now that my shock is gone. Wow!!!!! This thread is in the top 5 of coolest ever in my book. Congratulations on both a killer collection and hitting 1000
Edite again to add: I know MrHalfDime is online and it sure is taking him a long time to post to this thread. I bet he's typing up some gooooooood stuff right now
And congrats on 1k!!
Good lord!!
I got to the1864 and I want to have a cigarette now........
SM1 calls me a troublemaker....
--------------------------------------------
Sunday August 19, 2007 9:17AM
A mentor awarded " YOU SUCK!!"
Half Dime heaven.
<< <i>Aw, crap, I forgot the 1865-s. >>
I never would have known if you didn't tell me.
Very nice collection.
My first post...updated with pics
I collect mostly moderns and I'm currently working on a US type set.
What a great give away please enter me
( thanks for taking the time to share your collection.)
A witty saying proves nothing- Voltaire (1694 - 1778)
An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor
does the truth become error because nobody will see it. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)
A bit of constructive criticism: Please, please, please give these coins the justice they deserve and fix the white balance. I susepect the 6th photo in the second row and the 1864 proof are correct. The rest look "off" to me.
Again, superb collection and thanks for sharing...Mike
these are tough coins to obtain, particularly the early dates. I like how you left a space for the 1802
even without that coin this set would get a lot of attention at auction
well done, please put me on the list if you have any upgrades or duplicates to place
Congrats on the milestone, please enter me in your generous giveaway
ps: how about some larger and reverse pics of the coins for a nice type set..
i'd really like to see the reverse of that 1796
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
... all the better to "hook" you on collecting half dimes. (Sorry, that was pathetic).
fix the white balance. I susepect the 6th photo in the second row and the 1864 proof are correct.
The reason is: two different cameras. I just could not get the colors correct with the better camera. On the other hand, the resolution is garbage on the two photos that are the correct color. BTW, that 1864 "proof" is a PCGS MS-66 business strike!
i'd really like to see the reverse of that 1796
It's now a PCGS VF-25, but here's a low-res photo from the days when it roamed free.
President, Racine Numismatic Society 2013-2014; Variety Resource Dimes; See 6/8/12 CDN for my article on Winged Liberty Dimes; Ebay
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Are any of them available?
Tom
Sorry I took so long to comment on your incredible half dimes. Let’s just say I was busy taking in their beauty. What an incredible collection, and what an incredible post! Where else can you go to see so many beautiful half dimes? My hat is off to you, sir.
Looking at the relative completeness of your half dime collection, by date, caused me to think about the issue of completeness for the series in an historical perspective. I recently compiled a census survey for the Bust half dimes for the JRCS (published in the December 2005 John Reich Journal), and even more recently a similar census survey for the Liberty Seated half dimes for the LSCC (to be published in the March Gobrecht Journal). For the Capped Bust half dimes there are just nine individual dates, all produced at the Philadelphia Mint, so it would be possible to complete a simple date set at almost any small coin show (if grade and condition were not important). The point is, there are no rare dates in the Capped Bust half dime series. However, if one chooses to acquire an example of all 91 known die marriages, as a few on this forum are attempting, that would be considerably more difficult. At present, there are just three (3) complete collections, with examples of all 91 known die marriages, limited by the 1833 LM-5/V10 for which there are only four known examples, and one collector owns two of them. For the early half dimes (Flowing Hair and Draped Bust), there are just nine (9) dates, but this includes the 1802, making it a real challenge. If one chooses to collect all of the known die marriages for these dates, there are 31. And if you add the 1792 half disme (which one properly should), that makes a total of 32 die marriages for the early half dimes. That has only been accomplished once in history, with the Ed Price collection, recently sold via private treaty. That’s correct – it has only been accomplished once in history. Not even the Eliasberg, Norweb, Garrett or any other notable collection ever assembled all 32 known die marriages of the early half dimes.
For the Liberty Seated half dimes, no one actually knows the total number of die marriages for that series. There are 71 different date/mint issues for the complete series (omitting the unique 1870-S), and in the recent census survey, there were 22 ‘complete’ collections reported. No one, not even one collector, reported examples of all 257 ‘varieties’ listed by Dr. Valentine (his word for die marriages). Only four collections even gave the appearance of attempting ‘completeness’ by Valentine number. To my knowledge, no one has ever completed the set of 257 Valentine varieties since Valentine published his monograph in 1931.
What this all means is that only Dr. Valentine has ever ‘completed’ the entire collection of United States half dimes, with examples of all known die marriages at the time the collection was assembled. To be sure, there have been many die marriages identified since Valentine died in 1932, but he was the only collector who ever assembled a ‘complete’ collection of United States half dimes, by die marriage, or ‘variety’. Think of that. What a challenge that would be.
The Jules Reiver collection contained 29 of the 32 known early half dime die marriages, 88 of the 91 known die marriages for the Capped Bust half dimes, but he was not even complete by date and mint for the Liberty Seated; the Liberty Seated half dimes were not a priority for Jules. In the Russ Logan collection, he owned all 91 die marriages for the Capped Bust, but owned very few early or Liberty Seated half dimes. The recently auctioned (Heritage September 2005) William A. Harmon half dime collection, one of the most complete in recent history, contained 27 of the early marriages, 78 of the Capped Bust, and essentially all of the published Liberty Seated half dime varieties, but even he was not ‘complete’.
Today there are many more than 257 different die marriages for the Liberty Seated half dimes, but that number is still a work in progress. I presently own examples of over 500 different Liberty Seated half dime die marriages (yet I still do not have all 257 of the Valentine varieties; I have about 240). Three collectors, myself included, have all 91 marriages of the Capped Bust half dimes. And a precious few collectors (including at least three on this forum) are working to complete the early half dimes. But which one collector will be the next to complete the entire half dimes series, by die marriage? Can it be done? Something to think about.
You have brought to attention several collecting challenges which every early type coin collector on these boards should take as an opportunity to compile a truly distinctive collection of early US coins. Consider how many collectors are attempting to assemble Top 100 Morgan VAM sets. Consider how many collectors try for complete date/mint mark sets of later series, such as Lincoln cents and Walking halves. There are hundreds if not thousands of collectors working on complete sets of these "currently popular" coins. On the other hand, half dimes are underappreciated, most likely because of their small size; only a small number of collectors really specialize in the series. I am willing to bet there are more complete sets of 1794 lare cents by Sheldon variety being assembled compared to any of the half dime variety sets you mentioned. When the day is done, would you rather have a box of corroded VG 1794 cents that cost you $50,000, but does not contain a single condition census coin, or a near complete set of Capped Bust half dimes by die marriage that puts you in elite company? Collectors shy away from "unpopular" series, but time has proven that once-unpopular coins such as the Morgan Dollar can become highly desirable with time (Recall that BU Morgans were basically worth face value in the 1950's, barring the 1893-s, 1889-cc, 1895, and 1903-o, and not a soul in the world cared about MS-67 coins, which were worth about the same as MS-60's). Now is the time to start collecting coins such as half dimes by date, mint mark, and variety. They will not be "cheap" forever, and one can build a truly epic collection before the inevitable happens.
<< <i>This thread is just so friggin' cool
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With all the talk of seated half dimes lately I thought this magnificent thread might help to inspire some here.
Thanks for the new wallpaper!!!!!!!
Hell, I don't need to exercise.....I get enough just pushing my luck.
When I see something like this I realize that I just am not a "real" collector
AL