1813 Bust Half, O-109A - "Case of the Missing Lower Leaf" Revisited.....

bottleguy

The 1813 Bust Half off eBay arrived today..... I'm still needing opinions on whether it's the O-109, or the controversial 109A. Here's the previous thread.

First off, those who wondered about altered surfaces were right.... This one's been buffed-out with either jewelers rouge or white rouge, then re-toned.

Like they say... "If you're going to play, on the 'bay, sometimes you pay...." Anyway, the coin is still pretty nice (although kinda' shiney) but I think I'll hang on to it for a while. The die clash is incredible and it still looks fairly good in the album.

Here's the controversy...... the sellers pics do show remnants of the lower leaf. I've re-photographed the coin and can't seem to get the lower leaf to show up as well as in the sellers pic. Under the microscope, the lower leaf is virtually non-existant. I'll get microscope pics up later.

In the meantime, why don't we discuss weak reverse strikes, lower leaves that come and go, and, maybe we can figure out if this one is the 109A or not......

The sellers pics:


My pics:

STONE

Now you're just trying to hide that leaf

I actually like the sellers photos over yours; they're sharper and less grainy.

I'm changing over to O-109 and I don't believe an actual 1813 missing leaf exists.

speety

I still do not think it is an A, it seems like it may be a late enough die stage, but the strike on the coin is very, very sharp and thus shows portions of the lower leaf. I love that coin though, if you wanna sell it in the future let me know!

Mark

bottleguy

Ok.... I guess I'll just have to go with the 109. Here's some pics under the microscope:

The "leaf":




The clashes:




Rick

CaptHenway

O-109. You can see the leaf.
TD

seemyauction

maibockaddict

I don't care what anyone says about the leaf, this is a cool thread.

mozin

If you want to see a good discussion of the Bust Half Dollar Single Leaf varieties, check this out.

CBH Single Leaf