Another 1829 O-118, R4+ Bust Half purchase.
edmerlr
Posts: 563 ✭
In the previous decades of my life I have had several addictions. This is the cross those of us with addictive personalities continually bear.
In the past once I accepted that I had an addiction to something, the solution was simple: I needed to stay away from what ever it was. Eventually, in time the sweats and shakes caused by withdrawals would usually diminish and finally go away.
Bust Halves are a whole different addiction. Even if I cannot, or do not, add to my collection, I constantly expose myself to Bust Halves. There are days after days where I talk about them, look at them, and study them.
…but, for me, - even though I am always around the Busties - there is still a form of “withdrawal.” I guess you would rename it as “The New Purchase Withdrawal.” You see, the longer I go without buying a new Bustie, the more and more the extreme the fever and shakes become.
In June I bought two coins. I did not make another coin purchase until the second week of September. My wife was becoming concerned. I kept thinking she was going to send me to the emergency room.
After my September purchase I felt fine again. I felt happy, healthy, and I was no longer dealing with bouts of fever, shakes and occasional depression.
…and then, this week all the symptoms started to come came back. Fortunately my Higher Power intervened. You see the lowest graded die marriage (below R5) in my Bust Half collection is the 1829 O-118. Another one, possibly a higher grade, came up for sale on eBay. The coin would be mine; I would be able to avoid the shakes again. ...but I would have to buy the coin, receive the coin, study the coin and then I could decide if it was truly an upgrade.
(Thank you for listening and reading the above. I feel better now. Do you?)
Anyway with the purchase of this NEW 1829 O-118, R4+ I put myself AGAIN into one of my bouts of indecision. I am not able to keep my duplicate coins. Now that I have two O-118's I need to decide which one to keep and which one to sell – then I need to find a buyer.
SUBJECT COIN(S): The 1829 O-118, R4+ die marriage. I have always suspected that the rarity rating of this coin was incorrect. This is a very, very tough die marriage to find. In fact, I was the last 1829 die marriage/state that I needed for my Busties of that date.
I prefer coins problem-free coins approximately in the grade of AU, but after several years of hunting for this die marriage, I settled for my current set piece. For clarity I will call it “the OLD coin.”
The old coin is light/mid gray, late die state, it has faint hairlines from a very light old dip and some very minor scratches on the portrait. For a grade I logged it into my collection as a VF-35 obv./EF-40 rev. ...but in hindsight, I think this grade might be generous.
Here is the OLD coin:
My “NEW coin is different. Very light toning – another old dip, but dipped more than the OLD coin. It also has faint hairlines, but there are no scratches. Grade wise, it appears to have a flatly struck reverse. Even though the seller called it an AU-50, I would call it an EF-45. I am taking flatness of strike into consideration, and not flatness caused by circulation wear. Then, of course, I would be tempted (possibly) to net grade it because of the lack of toning. (But it does NOT look lifeless and washed out, like over-dipped coins do.)
The NEW coin was struck before the OLD coin. I can tell this from the die chip in the 1st A of AMERICA.
Now I must decide which one to send “Bye-Bye.” What would you send off and why?
Here is the NEW coin:
Thank you for your time. I have alway held great value in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or more opinions.
Regards,
Ed R.
In the past once I accepted that I had an addiction to something, the solution was simple: I needed to stay away from what ever it was. Eventually, in time the sweats and shakes caused by withdrawals would usually diminish and finally go away.
Bust Halves are a whole different addiction. Even if I cannot, or do not, add to my collection, I constantly expose myself to Bust Halves. There are days after days where I talk about them, look at them, and study them.
…but, for me, - even though I am always around the Busties - there is still a form of “withdrawal.” I guess you would rename it as “The New Purchase Withdrawal.” You see, the longer I go without buying a new Bustie, the more and more the extreme the fever and shakes become.
In June I bought two coins. I did not make another coin purchase until the second week of September. My wife was becoming concerned. I kept thinking she was going to send me to the emergency room.
After my September purchase I felt fine again. I felt happy, healthy, and I was no longer dealing with bouts of fever, shakes and occasional depression.
…and then, this week all the symptoms started to come came back. Fortunately my Higher Power intervened. You see the lowest graded die marriage (below R5) in my Bust Half collection is the 1829 O-118. Another one, possibly a higher grade, came up for sale on eBay. The coin would be mine; I would be able to avoid the shakes again. ...but I would have to buy the coin, receive the coin, study the coin and then I could decide if it was truly an upgrade.
(Thank you for listening and reading the above. I feel better now. Do you?)
Anyway with the purchase of this NEW 1829 O-118, R4+ I put myself AGAIN into one of my bouts of indecision. I am not able to keep my duplicate coins. Now that I have two O-118's I need to decide which one to keep and which one to sell – then I need to find a buyer.
SUBJECT COIN(S): The 1829 O-118, R4+ die marriage. I have always suspected that the rarity rating of this coin was incorrect. This is a very, very tough die marriage to find. In fact, I was the last 1829 die marriage/state that I needed for my Busties of that date.
I prefer coins problem-free coins approximately in the grade of AU, but after several years of hunting for this die marriage, I settled for my current set piece. For clarity I will call it “the OLD coin.”
The old coin is light/mid gray, late die state, it has faint hairlines from a very light old dip and some very minor scratches on the portrait. For a grade I logged it into my collection as a VF-35 obv./EF-40 rev. ...but in hindsight, I think this grade might be generous.
Here is the OLD coin:
My “NEW coin is different. Very light toning – another old dip, but dipped more than the OLD coin. It also has faint hairlines, but there are no scratches. Grade wise, it appears to have a flatly struck reverse. Even though the seller called it an AU-50, I would call it an EF-45. I am taking flatness of strike into consideration, and not flatness caused by circulation wear. Then, of course, I would be tempted (possibly) to net grade it because of the lack of toning. (But it does NOT look lifeless and washed out, like over-dipped coins do.)
The NEW coin was struck before the OLD coin. I can tell this from the die chip in the 1st A of AMERICA.
Now I must decide which one to send “Bye-Bye.” What would you send off and why?
Here is the NEW coin:
Thank you for your time. I have alway held great value in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or more opinions.
Regards,
Ed R.
0
Comments
Now on to the sisters......I like the older sister better. I just don't like white coins anymore, unless they are moderns.
But, my addiction would allow me to keep them both.
Your new coin looks and sounds much better. Put it in the right environment, after an acetone bath, and let it tone over for a few years. My grade from what you say, and your pictures, would be XF40+ details by current grading service standards.
This marriage was raised to R4+ by the BHNC. I wouldn't be surprised to see it eventually reach R5-. I never owned this marriage. For the little money you have in these two specimens, why not just keep them both?
Capped Bust Half Series
Capped Bust Half Dime Series
A bit white but lots of help available in the area. Don't like the surfaces on the first
My 118 looks more like the first one so how does one go about getting some of the black goop out of the devices.
And HOPEFULLY she is not bright white under it.
Great thread.
I also do not like the look of bright busties as a general rule. They just should not be bright. But if I had to choose between these 2 coins I would have to keep the newer brighter coin. I don't like the look of the first piece. If it has some lines also, I would like it even less. It is not a nice old crusty coin that might allow you to overlook some of its flaws, its just OK......with flaws.
I agree with Mozin that the newer coin will be much nicer in a few more years if it is allowed to age well.
the scans are "equal". A very nice coin in my opinion!
Now for my advice i'd like to be entered into your giveaway for this splendid coin!
Mark
Another tough call from you. Thanks for an interesting puzzle.
I opt for the old coin, but only by a bit. The reverse is very nice, but the obverse seems a bit mushy around the portrait. The new coin obviously has a bit more detail but for me, the over-dipped look takes away from what this series has to offer (or any of the old type series, for that matter). I can handled cleaned but still dirty much better than dipped. I have a few dipped coins, R.4 pick-ups from early in my collecting of busties that will eventually get replaced, I hope, now that my eye is becoming a bit more refined.
Of all of the possible addictions out there, we should be thankful that CBHs can take center stage...
zap
102 capped bust half dollars - 100 die marriages
BHNC #198