Options
1823 Capped Bust Halves - The Troublesome 3's
lkeigwin
Posts: 16,893 ✭✭✭✭✭
1823 capped bust halves are well known for double and even triple profiles. But the Redbook varieties focus on the problems the Mint engravers had with the number 3 punch.
Four different varieties are seen, but not all from the same working die.
- The "broken 3" (O.101) came from a new 3 punch, and the less than satisfactory result was not touched up as would normally have happened.
- The "patched 3" (O.101a, O.102) was a botched repair attempt to the same die.
- The "ugly 3" (O.110a) was due to a die crack from the rim upward which simply broke away the right side of the numeral.
- The fourth 3 variety -- not a recognized "major" one, the "tampered with 3" (O.106a), was likely due to a simple die chip and not inept tampering.
Here are some examples. A shout out to AU58WALKERS for the patched 3 that arrived today.
Lance.
Broken 3
Patched 3
Ugly 3
Tampered-with 3
Normal 3
Profile doubling
Four different varieties are seen, but not all from the same working die.
- The "broken 3" (O.101) came from a new 3 punch, and the less than satisfactory result was not touched up as would normally have happened.
- The "patched 3" (O.101a, O.102) was a botched repair attempt to the same die.
- The "ugly 3" (O.110a) was due to a die crack from the rim upward which simply broke away the right side of the numeral.
- The fourth 3 variety -- not a recognized "major" one, the "tampered with 3" (O.106a), was likely due to a simple die chip and not inept tampering.
Here are some examples. A shout out to AU58WALKERS for the patched 3 that arrived today.
Lance.
Broken 3
Patched 3
Ugly 3
Tampered-with 3
Normal 3
Profile doubling
Coin Photography Services / Everyman Registry set / BHNC #213
8
Comments
Thank you for posting. Another aspect of why this board is so cool.
John
siliconvalleycoins.com
Thanks.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
May I keep the post/pictures for future study?
BHNC #203
zap
102 capped bust half dollars - 100 die marriages
BHNC #198
BHNC member # 184!
http://www.busthalfaddict.com
cheers,
'dude
Zombie thread alert.
@Ikeigwin Are there any die chain studies that show where in 1823 these weird date dies were used? Robert Scot died in November of 1823, and William Kneass did not replace him until late January of 1824. I have always enjoyed the mental image of the Chief Coiner trying to get one more die he can use by personally dating the "Broken 3" die by using the bottom half of a (literally broken) "3" punch to sink the bottom half of the 3, and then using the top half of a cut-down "2" punch to sink the top half of the 3.
TD
Dr Ivan Leaman and Don Gunnet developed an emission order for the Capped Bust Halves and presented their findings at the COAC Conference in 1986. According to them the emission sequence of 1823 is, by Overton numbers:
1823 108
1822 112, 113
1823 109,101,102,110,104,111,107,103,105,106
1824 111
1823 112
1824 112,101,102
1823 113
Their study used the die states of the edge dies in conjunction with the obverse and reverse dies to make their determinations.
Hope this helps a little.
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
I missed the original posting but wonderful examples and nice educational write up.
I love the 23s, there are so many different looks to that one digit on the various dies.
Cool group.
I forgot about one more odd 3...the "tall 3", O.112.
So for the sake of completeness...
Lance.
Incredibly impressive!! Thanks for sharing.
Successful buys on BST board from NotSure, Nankraut, Yorkshireman, Astrorat, Ikeigwin(2x), Bob13, Outhaul, coinbuf, dpvilla, jayPem, Sean1990, TwoKopeiki, bidask, Downtown1974, drddm, nederveit2
I learned something today. Thanks.
Great post Lance... very informative and excellent pictures.... Worth putting in my computer 'coin library'... Cheers, RickO
@lkeigwin Have you ever thought about starting an attribution service for Capped Bust Half Dollars comparable to what Messydesk does for Morgan Dollars?
LOL. I don't think I'd be very busy.
Bust half attribution isn't really difficult or tricky. Anyone can get the gist of it quickly using skills learned as a toddler. "Which of these is not like the others?"
With experience you learn to be faster at it by picking out distinctive characteristics, like die cracks, an unusual orientation of stars and their points, or a peculiar relationship between legend and scroll letters. Something odd and prominent.
Lance.
Just a public shout out to Lance. He took the time to “educate” me in the basics of attribution. Not as easy as he makes it, lol, but practice makes perfect(sort of).
Successful buys on BST board from NotSure, Nankraut, Yorkshireman, Astrorat, Ikeigwin(2x), Bob13, Outhaul, coinbuf, dpvilla, jayPem, Sean1990, TwoKopeiki, bidask, Downtown1974, drddm, nederveit2