Third Side of a coin-1809 O-107a CBH

maibockaddict · August 5, 2013 9:38PM

I have been putting together a web site in an attempt to combine information from various sources, primarily on Bust Halves for now, in one place. One of the coins that I re-photographed recently is this '09 O-107A IIII edge. Figured that I would share the pics, for the edge is very interesting.

Note the standard edge is

DOLLAR FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A

Where the IIIIIII edge is supposed to be

DOLLAR IIIIII FIFTY CENTS OR IIIII HALF A

The coin

The edge:
Note DOLLAR and FIFTY are run together

Some sort of blob after the OR that is illegible

The IIIII is to the left of HALF

Looks like they were having a few problems, eh?

ricko · August 5, 2013 11:27PM

Interesting...thanks for showing it....Cheers, RickO

123cents · August 6, 2013 1:24AM

I love the edge views. Thanks for the post!

zap1111 · August 10, 2013 4:19AM

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting.
zap

LanceNewmanOCC · August 10, 2013 4:29AM

.
that'd be neat if that blob were to be a cud. it would be the first true edge-only cud i've seen!
.

maibockaddict · August 10, 2013 7:20AM

<< .
that'd be neat if that blob were to be a cud. it would be the first true edge-only cud i've seen!
. >>

Maybe it has something to do with the reason for the IIII edge? One wonders....

You guys want to see another?

Walkerguy21D · August 10, 2013 8:19AM

Nice thread - but, the link you provided to the capped bust halves references takes me to ZipCoin, and I can't find
anything there about bust halves, other than some club info on the bust half nuts club.

maibockaddict · August 10, 2013 8:26AM

<< Nice thread - but, the link you provided to the capped bust halves references takes me to ZipCoin, and I can't find
anything there about bust halves, other than some club info on the bust half nuts club. >>

Not sure what you mean. Both the links in my profile work fine, one to CoinZip and one to the site I am creating (though the site is secure (HTTPS), there isnt a security certificate yet).

OKbustchaser · August 10, 2013 8:30AM

<< Nice thread - but, the link you provided to the capped bust halves references takes me to ZipCoin, and I can't find
anything there about bust halves, other than some club info on the bust half nuts club. >>

Scroll on down the page, past the advertising.

Walkerguy21D · August 10, 2013 8:35AM

I sent the OP a PM.....all I see are ads clear to the bottom of the page, the last one being an ad for Progressive Insurance.
Must be me I guess.

OKbustchaser · August 10, 2013 9:01AM

You're correct. It appears that one is now required to register an account prior to accessing the forum. Since I (and I suspect most members) never log out, I don't know how long this has been the case.

JRocco · August 10, 2013 10:40AM

<< 

<< .
that'd be neat if that blob were to be a cud. it would be the first true edge-only cud i've seen!
. >>

Maybe it has something to do with the reason for the IIII edge? One wonders....

You guys want to see another?

>>

Yup

djfcoins · August 18, 2013 3:56AM

The edge lettering of Bust Half Dollars was applied to the blank planchet via the Castaing Machine before the coin was struck. The Castaing Machine had 2 long rectangular bars (called edge dies) spaced apart. The distance was slightly less than the standard diameter of the blank planchet. On the standard set of edge dies from 1815-1836, one bar had "FIFTY CENT OR" and the other bar had "HALF A DOLLAR *". The * was not present on the edge die bars from 1807-1814.

The edge dies moved via a hand crank. When fully retracted, the edge dies were away from each other. As the crank was turned, the edge dies moved towards each other. When fully retracted, a planchet was placed in the center of the Castaing Machine. The letters and * were raised off the edge dies and reversed. As the crank was turned, the edge dies moved towards each other, turning the planchet, and imparting the edge letters into the edge of the coin.

It only took a turn of half of the circumference of the planchet to impart the edge lettering. Since the bars were spaced apart slightly less than the diameter of the planchet, the planchet was also squeezed. This upset the rims in addition to imparting the edge lettering.

Edge dies wore out just like obverse and reverse dies. A cud on a coin occurs when a piece of the die fractures and falls out. Likewise, a cud on the edge occurs when an edge die fractures and a piece falls out.

In addition to the III edge for 1809, there is also an XXX edge for 1809. The III edge also occurred in later years.

Dr. Ivan Leaman and Dr. Donald Gunnet presented “Edges and Die Sequences on Early Half Dollars” at the Coinage of the American Conference at the American Numismatic Society in New York on November 1-2, 1986. They identified 552 working die bars for the Capped Bust Half Dollar Series. Thanks to these two collectors and researchers, we can explain missing edge letters, doubled and tripled and quadrupled edge letters, as well as upside down edge letters.

jayPem · August 18, 2013 5:09AM

My 107a is buried in an old no edge view holder...I've never seen the edge at all

maibockaddict · August 18, 2013 11:04PM

One of the other Nuts confirmed that this particular Variety (O-107) is one where an edge cud appears. The Casting Machine dies are obviously worn (the difficult to read letters) and the die was started too far back in the Casting Machine, causing DOLLAR and FIFTY to run together.

Third Side of a coin-1809 O-107a CBH

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