Information please on a Bust Half Dime.

Fairlaneman

I received this today from a forum member and it shows something I have never seen before. Right at the top of the gown on the bust line some crater like depressions are present. Is this caused from impurities that were in the planchat or are they from something else ? If it is a planchet problem would PCGS slab the coin ? If so what type of grade would the coin receive. This is only the second bust coin I have ever owned so my savvy about the series is almost nothing.

By the way no matter what this is on the coin I like the coin and would have no problem with giving a thumbs up if someone ever asked me about the seller.

Thanks Much in advance.

Ken



As close as I could get to the crater like depressions.

Cladiator

I'd say those spots are either post mint damage or the result of a rusted die. I've read no mention of this obverse die having a rust problem though. My vote of most likely cause of the marks is damage.

Your coin is an LM1.3/V6c. Cool coin with lots of fun stuff going on with the reverse. Die cracks, filled letters, die chips, crumbling rim all on one coin There are LM1.3's with a later reverse die state than yours that have a retained cud and the die cracks are more pronounced.

MrHalfDime

I'm not sure if I can offer much more to the discussion of what occured to your half dime, except to say that this particular obverse die was not known to have been subject to rust. Rusted dies can and do occur, but the 'damage' they leave does not typically have that appearance, as seen on your coin. The pits are curious, as they seem to follow the design along the top of the gown on the bust line, as you stated. This would make me believe that at some time in its nearly two century life, some substance, perhaps a liquid, ran along the line of the gown and eroded the coin silver. Or, perhaps more likely, it eroded the more reactive copper, in alloy with the coin silver. Impurities in the coin silver would appear more randomly across the surface of the coin, and would not necessarily follow the lines of the struck devices.

'Rusted dies' have been offered as an excuse for anomolies on a coin's surface perhaps more often than is warranted. Rusted dies were more of a problem at the New Orleans Mint, in the southern climate, than they were in Philadelphia. The few examples of legitimate rusted dies that occur to me have a significantly different appearance on the struck coins. I think I would come down on the side of post-Mint damage to this specific coin.

Having said that, I will concur with Cladiator, though, that this 1831 LM-1.3 is an interesting coin, and part of an intriguing remarriage sequence. In a slightly later die state than your coin, the tops of NIT of UNITED join with a large die crack that eventually defines a retained cud.

Fairlaneman

Somewhere I have read that gases can get trapped in a coin planchant and after some wear occures the pockets become exposed. This looks like what has happened to the obverse of this coin. If it was post strike damage I do not see how the rest of the coin would have escaped without the same look.

What do I know though.

Cladiator thanks for your comments. I will look at the reverse more closely.

Ken

Fairlaneman

Mr HalfDime thanks for the comments. NIT are joined on this coin and the two S's in States are filled partially. You posted while I was looking at the coin and trying to figure out what was going on. The craters as I call them are also in the hair but are much smaller. None of the craters are in the field on the left side. Three very small craters are in the right field just off the main device.

Ken