Shattered die bust half

rec78

Hello, here is a 1818 Bust half that i have had for quite some time-The obverse die appears shattered and near teminal die state. This coin is raw. Any comments good or bad welcome. It is much neater looking in person -the scans do not show some of the die cracks too clearly-i imagine that the date is weak because of the late die state-Grade? Thanks, Bob

OKbustchaser

Overton 104a...

probably a VF, but as you say the weakness caused by the die cracks could result in many calling it a fine.

JadeRareCoin

Hi.

You have a late die state of O-104a. There has been some talk of a possible O-104b, which would show a crack through the right stars. I see a faint crack on the right side of your coin (through the stars). Is there?

O-104 and O-104a are both listed as R.3. The O-104b is listed as R.7 with a question mark in Steve Herrman's reference.

As for the date being weak, I am going to guess that your coin is holed/plugged in that area. I am guessing that based on the corresponding weakness in "STATES" on the reverse.

There's no premium for 1818 O-104a, but it does have a "coolness factor" due to the extensive breaks.

I like it.

slipgate

yup, that's not good at all, send it to me and i'll give you $20 for it...

rec78

Wow yes Jade that die crack is there though all the stars to the last star--i see no evidence of a repair--i will try to post clearer scans later--i have to leave for work now-Thanks-i will be back later---Bob

slumlord98

I wouldn't call it a shattered die; catastrophic failure, yes, but not shattered. Does yours have the die chip like this, fully defined?



Your coin shows the 'oozing' die crack, an effect I believe is unique to this die marriage. There are likely a dozen or so that are this late. Nice find!

mozin

You have one of the neatest die cracks in the Capped Bust Half series.

Conder101

I suspect that the date weakness is the result of the dies being mounted in the press out of parallel. The die faces are closer together in the area at the top of the obv and bottom of the rev. That is why the denticals and the 50 C are so sharp/ Being closer together the pressure was higher in that area and the strike was better. Diametricly across from that point the die faces were further apart and the date and ES OF therefor came out weakly struck. The high pressure was probably also the reason for the die failure at that point.

LanLord

Great coolness factor in oozing cracks (at least when it's on a coin, not when it's on a spouse :yuk.

CoinAddict

Awesome busties.

JRocco

Hey rec78. I like your coin. One of the things you have to love about bust coinage is their individuality--nothing cookie cutter with these gals. As always, slumlord has added a ton of knowledge to the post.
If there is no sign of a plug by the date (I do not think this is what is going on here) I tend to think this is just a very uneven press on this one. It is more usually seen with the stars on one side striking up well while the opposite stars are flat.
I would place a bet that the planchet is uneven and one side (the date area) is thinner than the opposite side.
Nice coin.

fc

I wouldn't call it a shattered die; catastrophic failure, yes, but not shattered.

i agree. a regular poster here put up a pic of a bust coin that
truly deserved the shattered label. sadly, i cannot remember
the thread. it had at least 4 die cracks going towards the center
from the outside.

rec78

Hello, thanks for all the advice - i may have called it a shattered die by mistake-but it still is neat--Slumlord-Yes it does look exactly like that with that die chip-i apologize for the not so great scans-i cannot get any better ones at this point. The area below the date seems to be very slight rim damage. I think Condor is right also in his evaluation-Thanks. Bob

Coxe

Old broken junk! Can't hold a candle to a shiny new PR69DCAM ASE.






Just kidding. Great coin!

MikeKing

an inspiring post, thanks all

JadeRareCoin

I enlarged the images of your coin and I am convinced that there is some sort of damage at 6:00 obv/12:00 rev. Maybe not a plug, but likely tooled. This is NOT from dies mounted out of parallel, for the simple reason that the weakness would not be in such a limited area of only a few degrees. It would be for a much more extensive area and fade gradually. Where are the dentils at 6:00 obv and where did the last S in STATES disappear to?

That being said, I still like it. Nice coin due to the extensive breaks.