1839-O bust half......

Bochiman

I think I want one.
I like the MM on the obverse.

However, I either find almost none of them, or problem ones, or VERY expensive ones.

Is that what I should expect? Not a lot of them and, when they are found, they are either problem free and expensive or have problems?

I like to have designs visible, legends readable, and no problems. Maybe anything from a nice VG10 up to maybe a nice F15 or 20.

Looking at PCGS pops (I'm open to a nice NGC as well but just easier looking at PCGS pops right now), I can see not a lot of them out there. Do people see these pop up often?

Am I chasing something I am not likely to find easily?

Boosibri

These coins pop up often but hardly ever nice. A genuinely original VF or EF coins should command a strong premium and will be in high demand. So to answer your question, you are chasing a coin which is available but is quite difficult to find in acceptable condition, let alone gem original condition in any grade but increasingly so in higher grades. This is the challenge that makes collecting so much fun, the thrill of the chase.

yosclimber

39 sold in auctions in 2014, at a range of grades and prices.
EFs in the range $1400 - $2500 over the year.
http://www.pcgs.com/auctionprices/details.aspx?r=6181&v=&dv=1839-o&pf=ms&c=120&g=0

coinlieutenant

I've been looking for one since 2004. Welcome to the club!

rec78

Quite a few years ago I was in my favorite dealers shop and he had three 1839-O bust halves all grading VF35 in PCGS slabs. He was asking $350 each... Dummy me I only bought one, I should have purchased all three. They all looked original and were very similar, I had a hard time deciding which one to buy. And yes, I still have it in a bank vault somewhere. They are and always were very popular coins. They are out there smoewhere, maybe a hoard is around smoeplace. You just have to wait it out and pay the price when a nice one comes along. They are always an easy sell coin.

Bob

kaz

These seem to turn up just often enough to keep a collector's hopes alive. I just missed one on the BST a few years ago, I think Lanlord snagged it. Then in 2012 at the Baltimore show I stumbled onto one at CRO's table and whipped out the checkbook. Keep up the hunt, there is one out there with your name on it.

Yorkshireman

Kaz,

That is a beautiful coin!
I hope I can find one that nice.

Walkerguy21D

I've posted this one before......turned out to be a lose/lose situation for me.

A dealer friend had bought this as part of an estate a couple years ago, offered it to me for $470, which I bought, along with a few other items.
A good customer/forum member had this on his standing want list, so I sold it to him for $750, which he was thrilled with.
A few months later, the original dealer accuses me of 'ripping' him, as I should have told him the coin was worth a lot more than Greysheet....in my defense,
at the exact same show, another dealer friend had an XF+ that had been very lightly cleaned, and he wanted ~$650 for it. I had compared both coins, and bought
the slighly lower grade, original, lower priced coin. In retrospect of course I should have bought both, but I did not know they were going for WAY over sheet until
later.....then when the customer decided a year or so later to get out of coins and sell off his holdings, he offered it back to me for ~$1300.....

lkeigwin

<< <i>These seem to turn up just often enough to keep a collector's hopes alive. I just missed one on the BST a few years ago, I think Lanlord snagged it. >>

Good memory. That was one of mine he bought.

David Finkelstein has a nice XF45/CAC for sale.

Here's an AU53 I bought years ago when prices were a little more sensible.
Lance.

claychaser

From my "1839 Coins n Commerce" Set:

Here's a 1839-O




Here's another 39-O

BillJones

I have found the 1839-O half dollar to be a very aggravating coin. I have owned two of them in my time. One was an AU I bought raw. It had been dipped. I sent it to NGC who put it in a body bag as "improperly cleaned." Like hell it was!!!! Some grader who didn't know their job took my money, and I got nothing.

I then sent it to PCGS, and they graded it AU-55, which is what it should have been in the first place. After that the joy went out of it for me, and I sold it at a loss.

The second one was a raw Fine-15. I bought it at a Winter FUN show when I was a dealer, and had all of half an hour before I sold it for a nice mark-up.

Since then I've thought about getting one, but just like everyone else, I can't find one. It is supposed to be "common" according to the experts. Yea, right.

I have this instead, an 1839-O quarter eagle. It has the obverse mint mark and has wonderful eye appeal. This is one of those coins that could have graded AU-58 or MS-62. It is an AU-58.

asheland

I can definitely see the appeal! Those are superb!

TomB

My answer is the same as in the question you posed last week. However, I will add that most folks who casually want one will not end up with a really nice coin since the really nice ones typically sell for more aggressive prices than many realize.

Rodebaugh

Attractive 39-O halves exist but are rare to market and often command a healthy premium. Working the floor at larger shows and asking around sometimes helps flush out better coins. I acquired this example a couple of years ago at Baltimore.

LindeDad

Dang and all I got was this "Hole" filler.


Considering the time and place it's from I wish she could talk.

crypto79

I always wanted one of those too and ended up settling as I didn't want to tie up any money on a series I didn't collect. I ended up buying raw and off holdered examples of the two halves I wanted (early O-mint coins that saw heavy commerce) and put them into PCGS. This scratches my itch for the coins with something cool and Unique. The story of the 1840(o) half is pretty cool too! They changed over the Obv Die but reused a bust half Rev die which deleted the MM and made a transitional mule in the process. They were able to tell it was made in New Orleans because it used a Rev Die from the 39-o. I paid about $550 for these including grading but I am not sure you could get them for that now days.

ElmerFusterpuck

The nice ones are pretty scarce for sure, managed to get this one a few years ago courtesy of Brian Cushing:

PCGS XF-45:

Bochiman

<< <i>My answer is the same as in the question you posed last week. However, I will add that most folks who casually want one will not end up with a really nice coin since the really nice ones typically sell for more aggressive prices than many realize. >>



Thanks Tom.
I knew I created that thread, but when I went looking for it, I couldn't find it......user error on my end or a hiccup on the servers (people were posting multiple times when I was looking and more of the fun cloudflare stuff). Either way, I couldn't find it which is why I recreated (it had me thinking I wrote the thread and didn't get it actually created).


I want one "casually", but I think I will pay going "aggressive" rate for a nice one in the range I want, as I don't think they will be heading downward, so it isn't a bad deal.

winky

Do the chase until you find the right one that one can afford and BUY it. I love these halves, very nice even low grades.

AnkurJ

Contact David Kahn. He has them more often than other dealers.
Here is my example which I purchased from SeaEagleCoins at his last every coin show. It means more to me than I can say.

TomB

I thought you may have had a server/search issue because I have had a few of these in the recent past, which is why the link was specifically included in my reply. I own a couple of these in mid-grade and multiple coins appearing in this thread were handled by me in the last few years, too. However, they don't all make it to the site. My eye for coins is not the same as for everyone else, but regardless of one's aesthetic; it is best to be patient with this coin and to pounce on the right one when it comes along.

Good luck.

DaveG

Bochiman: If I were you, I'd give real serious thought to asking Tom to look for an example for you.

crypto79: That's the nicest AG-03 I've ever seen!

Desert Moon

Here is mine bought at FUN a couple years back off the bourse.

Best, SH

Crazy4Coins

Wish I still had my Icon coin. It was a very nice 64. Let it go back in 2007 or 2008.

Actually, wish I still had all of my reeded halves. I always loved the series.

mozin

Won't it be interesting to see the auction bidding action on the next 1839-O in PCGS 58 CAC, that also has eye appeal? I will be a strong bidder, but I doubt I will win it.

HCumberdale

Good thread here, I had to post mine

First up is the common die pair that is almost universally found with extensive die cracks. This example is from a little earlier in the dies and the crack through the date is not as pronounced as is often found. GR-1 shares the same reverse that struck the 1838-O half dollar, which might be a little consolation for those of us who can only dream of owning one of those elusive examples. I'm a huge fan of this specific coin due to the originality, though it might be too dark for some people's tastes. At more direct angles there is better color, but these are the best photos I have, courtesy of Jeremy Katz.





Next up is GR-4 currently listed as a Rarity-4 variety in Dick Graham's A Registry of Die Varieties of Reeded Edge Half Dollars, 1836-1839 This example is clearly not original, and the rim bumps are annoying, but it serves as a hole filler until I find a better example of the variety.





Finally we have GR-5, listed as Rarity-4+ that shares the same reverse die as the previous coin. This one is admittedly dark and streaky but again, until I find a better example of the variety it serves it's role quite proudly.





There are two other known die varieties for the 1839-O Reeded Edge half dollar, both of which are listed as Rarity-8. I'm always on the hunt, and the dream would be to pick one (or both!) of those coins someday to complete the collection. Until then, there are plenty of Philadelphia Mint reeded Edge halves to collect by die variety

AnkurJ

I found about 10 for sale on various sites. They are tough, but not that tough. Just have to look

scubafuel

Spacehayduke, where are coins like that when I'm walking the bourse??

These are available from time to time, but have become the "it" coin lately, and anyone with a nice one prices accordingly.

Bochiman

<< <i>I found about 10 for sale on various sites. They are tough, but not that tough. Just have to look >>



Yes, thank you for the PM.
However, finding in the grade I am after IS a little harder
Then, after the "right" grade for me, is the look......gets a little harder from there, even.

It's, honestly, a more difficult coin than I initially thought.