What are the best books for learning about early half dollars?
pcgs69
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I'm interested in the history aspect. I already own the Overton Die varieties book. Something that has a lot of information on the flowing hair and draped bust halves...
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Much less detailed, but still useful, information about early federal half dollars (and other coins) before Capped Busties can be found in the following:
"The U.S. Mint and its Coinage" by Don Taxay (1966, reprinted in 1983, Sanford J. Durst Numismatic Publications)
"History of the United States Mint and its Coinage" by David Lange (2006, Whitman Publishing)
"Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins" by Walter Breen (1988, F.C.I. Press)--see the chapter on half dollars
1929 - M. L. Beistle, A Register of Half Dollar Die Varieties and Sub-Varieties. Martin Luther Beistle loved the pre-turb halves and identified all 31 of the 1795 half dollar die marriages that are known today. Has information not included in the Overton books. Beistle supplied the cardboard to Wayte Raymond, the source of many of our album toned coins. The 1960's reprint is usually available.
1978? - Robert P. Hilt II, The United States of America's Rarest and Most Valuable Coin. A pamphlet on Flowing Hair Halves, describing in detail the small head varieties. Also describes Hilt's 11/8/1976 discovery of 1794 O.109, which is a unique (in silver) small head variety and type for the year. The coin is currently unaccounted for, Hilt's collection has never been sold since he was killed in an airplane crash in the early 1990's.
1980 - Robert P. Hilt II, Die Varieties of Early United States Coins. Includes the controversial "Group Strength" theory of die production.
1987 - America's Silver Coinage 1794-1891, Coinage of the Americas Conference at the ANS. This is a "must read" for all bust coin collectors with research articles by Logan, Hilt, and the Leaman/Gunnet emission order study. The use of edge lettering links to determine the emission order was first developed by preturb collector Paul Munson in the 1970's.
1997 - Bowers and Merena, The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection. Some very good historical background on early half dollars.
2002, June - R. W. Julian, The First Halves, Coins Magazine. Interesting information on the political history leading to our first half dollars, and of the employees of the early US Mint.
2006 - Heritage, The Jules Reiver Collection, Volume III. Another excellent auction catalog.
2006 - Edgar Souders, Bust Half Fever, second edition. Written for the CBH's, but has much information on die sinking and the early US Mint.
2007 - Karl Moulton, Henry Voight and Others involved with America's Early Coinage. Excellent!
John Reich Journal. Check the website index for back issues with articles on early halves. The last issue has three original research articles by board members here with new findings on early half dollars including the 1805 emission order, a discovery of hubbed reverse dentils on 1805-1807 half dollars AND late 1803 and 1804 $10 eagles(incl 1834 presentation $10), and a master die study that links early gold eagles and half dollar reverses for master die and some hub usage.
2008 - Heritage FUN auction catalog, Westmoreland collection of early half dollars. Not yet out, but this should be THE early half dollar reference catalog to own.
1) For early half dollars, the classic reference for variety identification is United States Early Half Dollars and Die Varieties 1794-1836 by Al Overton. Unfortunately, the newly published fourth edition of this classic has the name of his son-in-law as the author, Don Parsley, which is a travesty in my opinion since the work is mostly that of Al Overton while Don Parsley has updated it since Al's death in 1970. I own both the third (1990) and fourth (2005) editions, but I have found that I do not even open the fourth edition because it has so little extra that was not in the third edition. The first and second editions are clearly not as useful and I would suggest you save your money and buy one of these later editions. You may find these editions on ebay or online through Stack's or Sheridan Downey. Though you should be able to find these at $50-$65, plan on spending at least $35 for a used edition and up to $85 for the new edition.
2) Edgar Souders published Bust Half Fever [/o] in 1995 and a new edition, that I believe is greatly expanded and has more information, was published in 2005. This book contains much more history of the time and delves more into how the coins were used, made and collected. The book is terrific. You may find the paper or electronic version on ebay or through Stack's. I believe the second edition is approximately $85 while the first edition, which is long out of print, will likely run you about $115.
3) Contemporary Counterfeit Capped Bust Half Dollars written in 1996 by Keith Davignon, deals only with counterfeits passed off in the channels of commerce, as its name implies. It may be pricey at about $50 for this esoteric niche, but it is terrific, too.
4) Jules Reiver published the ultimate Variety Identification Manual for Reeded Edge Half Dollars 1836-1839 in 1988 but this is nearly impossible to find in print and I purchased my copy after looking for several years and paid about $50. Heritage now offers this manual online and free to read.
5) The ANS publication titled America's Silver Coinage 1794-1891 from the ANS Coinage of the Americas Conference in 1986 is fantastic. The book itself was published in 1987 and can be had for $15. It contains myriad intellectual research articles on early silver coinage.
6) There are also a pair of specialized price guides that are dedicated to the early half dollar niche and include Bust Half Quotes by Fricke and Karoleff as well as Auction and Mail Bid Prices Realized for Bust Half Dollars 1794-1839 by Herrman and Downey Mail Bid Sales by Herrman and Downey. Each of these is $20-$30 and may be picked up through Sheridan Downey.
As an aside, the "group strength" theory by Robert Hilt was something I could never embrance and also something that was written in such a manner that I found dizzying.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
When I was seriously into researching the 1794-1795 halves a few years ago, my favorite book was the Robert Hilt book. Even if you ignore the "group strength" theory, you'll come away with a whole different way of looking at die manufacture and DM emission order than you had before (which is good, since the order Haseltine/Beistle/Overton put 'em in 'aint the way they left the mint!). It will really open your eyes and get you thinking. Aside from this, there is no one source of comprehensive info for FH and DB halves, although the articles in JRCS by Nysoto, Slumlord, and others, are great progress. I hope in my lifetime we'll see a great book that gives these cool coins the attention they deserve. Also, (most of) the coins pictured in Hilt have never come to market (and there are some REAL rarities there) - so that in itself makes it a requirement if you're doing serious research. That goes for the other denominations studied in the book, too.
I'd also recommend the B&M 5/1993 Stetson sale, which contained the 1794 0.111, although the pic of this coin also appears in a JRCS journal.
Finally, by all means, don't attempt to create a register of all known R5 and + Flowing Hair halves - it will consume tons of time and you'll spend a fortune on reference material doing research.
<< <i>Hilt's collection has never been sold since he was killed in an airplane crash in the early 1990's. >>
Hilt's father told Downey that his coins had been sold a number of years earlier.
Wow - it must not have been to a dealer... Someone has been sitting on some rare DM's for a long time...