Home U.S. Coin Forum

1860 H10C - "Coin Without a Country" (GFRC)

oih82w8oih82w8 Posts: 11,869 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited May 10, 2017 11:11AM in U.S. Coin Forum

There are not too many coins out there that I would actually go into "debt" for...this would have been one of them;

1860 H10C Transitional (Judd-267, Pollack-135) (PCGS# 4373)

Description from Gerry Fortin Rare Coins
Rare Transitional Pattern, Coin Without a Country, Proof Like Fields, Choice Original, Pleasing and Attractive. The so-called "Coin Without a Country" as it lacks mention of the United States as the issuing authority. Long included in the pattern series, the transitional half dime is neither a pattern nor a regular issue but often included in a Liberty Seated half dime date and mintmark collection. The hollow starred obverse, debutted in 1859, by Anthony Paquet was paired with a new 1860 cereal wreath reverse. The result was a coin_ that lacked mention of the issuing authority. All transitional half dimes show a pronounced diagonal die scratch on the lower left portion of the rock. Although this piece was struck as a business strike, the fields are nicely mirrored and covered with thin silver-gold patina. Only 100 examples were struck as concocted by then Mint Director, James Ross Snowden, as "trade bait" that he could use to enhance the Mint's collection of U.S. coins. As with business strike issues of 1859, strike uniformity is an ongoing issue for the Anthony Paquet design. This example has a typical strike with star 9 lacking definition and weakness on the reverse denomination. Off the market since 2005 after the former owner purchased from noted Liberty Seated coinage dealer Jim O'Donnell. An inexpensive approach towards owning one of the two "Coin Without a Country" issues....the other being the Liberty Seated dime pattern that is many times more expensive. Housed in old NGC holder with standard ring insert.

http://seateddimevarieties.com/GFRC_Images/1800708003.jpg

Here is an example from PCGS in color

http://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/Coin/Detail/4373

I was too little too late for Gerry Fortins piece that he had for sale...maybe next time.

NOTE: CoinWorld posted an article about the 1859 Dime Without A Country last month, my apologies for the redundancy.

http://www.coinworld.com/voices/gerald-tebben/2017/04/a_coin_for_a_manwit.html

oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's

BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug...

Comments

  • goldengolden Posts: 9,018 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I thought about buying one of those back in the 1970's but never did.

  • RichieURichRichieURich Posts: 8,359 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The 1859 half dime J-232 is also a "Coin Without A Country" issue.

    An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.

  • yosclimberyosclimber Posts: 4,572 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 10, 2017 1:30PM

    @oih82w8 said:
    Description from Gerry Fortin Rare Coins
    ... All transitional half dimes show a pronounced diagonal die scratch on the lower left portion of the rock.

    This was thought to be true for many years, but our own @MrHalfDime discovered a second die variety of the 1860 transitional without the die scratch. This discovery was published in the Gobrecht Journal #124 (2015), The J-267 1860 Transitional Half Dime, A Second Die Marriage for "A Coin without a Country".

    PCGS Population Reports indicate 69 of the 1860 J-267 slabbed, in grades MS-62 to MS-68. Bill Harmon had an MS-60 in his collection; perhaps it has since been upgraded.
    And PCGS Population Reports show 6 of the 1859 J-232 in PR-63 to PR-65 and PR-67 cameo.

  • yosclimberyosclimber Posts: 4,572 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 10, 2017 3:43PM

  • yosclimberyosclimber Posts: 4,572 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 10, 2017 5:36PM

    @oih82w8 said:
    ... I was too little too late for Gerry Fortins piece that he had for sale...maybe next time.

    At $2750 for an NGC MS-62, that was "nearly affordable" for this pattern!
    These do appear at auction perhaps 5 times a year, but usually in higher grade and at around $4000 minimum.
    https://pcgs.com/auctionPrices/details/1860-j-267-transitional-ms/12065/4373

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In school... (in my case, many, many years ago) they did a presentation on 'The Man Without a Country'....it was with a film presentation and all the theatrical add in's ...music, background speech etc.. Was very impressive.... I doubt it would ever be done today in schools. Cheers, RickO

  • yosclimberyosclimber Posts: 4,572 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 17, 2019 1:47PM

    When I made my 1860 attribution guide last year, I included the J-267 "transitional patterns" (both die pairs) because they are dated 1860.
    I called the original J-267 "1860 V-t1" and @MrHalfDime's discovery "1860 V-t2".
    I checked all auction photos, and only 2 of the V-t2 are known - Mr. Half Dime's discovery coin, and the Heritage 2000 coin in my above post.
    https://sites.google.com/view/clintcummins/half-dime-attribution-guide (my LS half dime attribution guide page)

    As @RichieURich posted above, the 1859 J-232 is the much more valuable transitional, with only 20 struck, in proof.
    The Eliasberg PR-66 sold for $30k in 1996.

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file