1868 Shield Nickel, broken "C" and "S". Help please.

Wabbit2313

Hi:

Has anyone seen these before? I can't find much except part of the die fell off! Thanks!

guitarwes

maybe a grease-filled die on the bottom of the C and a chipped die on the bottom of the S.

tincup

These are well known for the 1868 date. The Cherrypickers guide has good information on them. There are actually variety numbers listed for 1,2,3,4 or 5 broken letters varieties; as well as the one with no broken letters. It looks as if you have FS-902; guide lists it as a value of $50 in XF40. Surprisingly, the one without any broken letters is the most valuable at $475 in XF40. BUT... it has to be the specific reverse of 1868 die the same as the other broken letter varieties. There are other reverses for 1868 and as far as I know there is not additional value for them for not having any broken letters.

Time for you to pick up a Cherrypickers Guide!

Wabbit2313

Thanks!

Walkerguy21D

Check out this link, for information on shield nickels. Maintained by our own HowardS on forum.
He is a real expert on shield nickels!


http://shieldnickels.net/

Sunnywood

Once upon a time, in my shield nickel variety set, I had a complete group of all the varieties of the 1868 Reverse of '68, from "No Broken Letters" to 5 broken letters, all in unc ... the "No Broken letters" was, to my knowledge, the only known uncirculated example. Years ago, I sold the entire variety set to Dave Bowers. He was smarter than I am. Today the whole collection is probably worth about three times what I sold it for !! (For example, it also included high-grade or even finest known examples of all the 1866/1866 and 1883/2 varieties ... those have appreciated vastly since then. )

Sometimes auction cataloguers see an 1868 shield nickel with no broken letters, and mistakenly call it "the rare No Broken Letters variety," when in fact it is merely a garden variety 1868 shield nickel with a reverse die from the previous hub (Rev. of '67). It's fun catching auction houses in errors, but no fun if you buy it based on an incorrect description. It's better to be an expert in whatever you're buying !!!

howards

It's not a grease filled die and it's not a chipped die. It's a broken master hub. In 1868, the mint went directly from master hubs to working dies. That's why we can see these letters break in a strict sequences of C (CENTS) S (CENTS) S (1st S STATES) and D (UNITED). Transitional dies are also seen where the letter is not fully broken - a thin line remains.

For the reverse hub put into service when this 1868 hub was retired (most likely due to its broken letters), the mint adopted a master hub/master die/working hub/working die strategy. We still many broken letters with this setup, but since it is the working hubs that break the letters no longer break in a dependable sequence. No one has attempted cataloguing these - a research project up for grabs!

IMO, the CPG values on the reverse of '68 broken letter varieties are very unreliable. Any coin offered near those values on eBay doesn't sell. Besides, why pay a premium when you can cherrypick one?

The one-broken-letter variety is easy to find. Two broken letters is only slightly more difficult. The no-broken-letter reverse is the hardest to find, although I have cherrypicked some.

Sunnywood, nice to see you here. Did you notice that the 1866/1866 that I traded to you a long time ago recently sold on Heritage? It's in an NGC 65 holder now. (For the rest of you, when I owned it, it was in an NGC 64 holder.)

Heritage FS-301