1811 (Large 8) Capped Bust Half Dollar - “Discuss Amongst Yourselves” :-)

Stuart

This interesting coin should stimulate a fun, lively and informative discussion of Strike, Luster, Die State, Preservation State, Clash Marks and Overton Variety.

I purchased it b/c I thought it was eye-appealing and solid for the grade. I was able to view it in hand as part of the auction preview, prior to purchasing it in that auction.

My preference is to encourage more descriptive discussion of this coin prior to publicly disclosing the grade.

IMO we collectors typically tend to overly focus on grade, to the exclusion of descriptive discussion of the coin aesthetics such as Strike, Luster, and especially Eye Appeal -- which don't always directly translate to grade, which tends to focus on number of contact marks and preservation state.

I’m looking forward to you sharing your thoughts and observations about this 1811 Capped Bust Half Dollar.

1811 (Large 8) Capped Bust Half Dollar

lkeigwin

Interesting bustie.

This is a late die state O.104a. One of the last die cracks to develop is present...from the obverse stars on left to forecurl. Likely an R4 rarity.

It was struck off center. Note the lower obverse denticles and those absent from the top. The reverse is similar, though they are worn away from die deterioration. The reverse shows typical central relief weakness which, along with a complete absence of denticles, is a sign of a LDS strike.

This "large 8" is one of just two die marriages for the year. All other yeardates are of the "small 8" variety.
Lance.

edit to remove typo...this is not a "well circulated" coin. I copied that from text about my VF35.

ricko

I am not an expert on Bust halves... Lance has done very well on details... overall, I like the look of this coin...good detail, nice surface and an interesting historical period. Cheers, RickO

Insider2

I agree that a more descriptive discussion of this coin prior to disclosing its grade would be helpful.

Therefore, Technical XF, TPGS Commercial AU.

JRocco

Beautiful coin Stuart.
I have this die marriage and have spent more time than I will admit looking at it under a high power glass.
Very interesting coin.
Pardon my amateur pic but here is a close-up of the die crack Lance described.
These are some of the reasons I love this series. Coins were more....interesting.

TennesseeDave

I think Lance nailed it, I suspect it's graded anywhere from AU-58 to MS-62

JRocco

@lkeigwin said:
Interesting bustie.

This is a late die state O.104a. One of the last die cracks to develop is present...from the obverse stars on left to forecurl. Likely an R4 rarity.

It was struck off center. Note the lower obverse denticles and those absent from the top. The reverse is similar, though they are worn away from die deterioration. The reverse shows typical central relief weakness which, along with a complete absence of denticles, is a sign of a LDS strike.

This well circulated "large 8" is one of just two die marriages for the year. All other yeardates are of the "small 8" variety.
Lance.

Interesting note about the slightly off center strike.
My coin has the same exact strike

Stuart

Thanks to LKeigwin, RickO, JRocco, Insider2 and Tennessee Dave for your posts to this thread.

Lance, Thanks for your extremely informative post including Overton Variety O.104a LDS. The information is much appreciated. Thanks as always for sharing your authoritative expertise.

JRocco, Very cool that we seem to own twin sister coins of this same Date, Overton Variety, Die Marriage, Late Die State & Off Center Strike! - I suspected that we were both a bit off-center/eccentric!

Treashunt

looks more like a Misaligned die

logger7

Nice original looking coin, 1811 in US historically: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811_in_the_United_States

lkeigwin

@Treashunt said:
looks more like a Misaligned die

Might very well be. There seem to be many like it in this die state. But not all. Here's my VF35 which has normal alignment and centering.
Lance.

Treashunt

@lkeigwin said:

@Treashunt said:
looks more like a Misaligned die

Might very well be. There seem to be many like it in this die state. But not all. Here's my VF35 which has normal alignment and centering.
Lance.

seems to prove my point, thanks

JRocco

Just to show another similar.

lkeigwin

@Treashunt said:

@lkeigwin said:

@Treashunt said:
looks more like a Misaligned die

Might very well be. There seem to be many like it in this die state. But not all. Here's my VF35 which has normal alignment and centering.
Lance.

seems to prove my point, thanks

I'm not sure. I'm no error expert so feel free to correct me here.

A coin struck by a misaligned die has just one side offset. Usually it is the hammer die that is askew, striking with the anvil die properly seated. An off-center strike (much more common) happens when the planchet is not centered and is struck by properly aligned dies. Both sides are affected, like JRocco's coin above.

Below is a misaligned die strike and an unusual one because it is the reverse die that is misaligned (probably as the hammer die). The 2nd coin below it is an off-center strike, about 7%.

Again, I'm no expert and weird things have been known to happen at the Mint. But my guess is OP's coin is just very slightly off-center.
Lance.