Thoughts on this tricky little half dime.
coinlieutenant
Posts: 9,320 ✭✭✭✭✭
Got this in a type set today. Half dime specialists, I would be interested in your thoughts on it.
2
Comments
Looks like LM-4. Maybe an R-6. Pics are poor.
R.I.P. Bear
Pretty dime!
Out of focus.
My thoughts, not to ruin it:
This coin is genuine based on many die characteristics, however, I think the coin might have been repaired significantly and reconstructed given die inconsistencies at 8 on the obverse and the corresponding part of the reverse. The coin is not a LM-4, which leads to many other questions, of which the above is my guess....
John
siliconvalleycoins.com
Go to Coinfacts, look at LM-4 varieties, there
is no image of that var. but look below at
several LM-4 sold at auction & compare your
coin to those.
5 inner berries, 6 outer. A-1 is filled. Crack forms
above Y in dentils.
R.I.P. Bear
You could be right. It's hard to see the coin, especially the rev.
R.I.P. Bear
Looking forward to seeing better pictures of the coin. In the meantime, here's one for comparison
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Only 13 stars? Dang nabbit, I want one with the full 16 stars! Gimme my money back!
My example of this very rare die marriage only has VG details, with a little rim damage that's just enough that PCGS and NGC wouldn't holder it. The OP's newly acquired coin is much nicer, and looks like it might have had some careful work done to minimize some environmental damage. It's a well-detailed example of a very rare piece that very few collectors on this board will ever get to own. I think nobody here should insult this coin unless they own a better one (spoken as Bill Jones and Mr. HalfDime walk in...)
Thanks all for posting. Bailey/Rhedden, do you see how close the E in UNITED is to the wreath in your specimens. Now look on mine. WAY off. This portion corresponds with the same obverse area of the coin around start 2. See how the vertical radial of star two, if a line were drawn from it, would not really intersect start 3? Mine would slice off 3 radials in star 2. Again, way off. Other than that though, everything looks legit from a diagnostic standpoint, although I haven't been super thorough. Thorough enough I guess to catch those things.
So the question is whether it is fake, repaired in that area, or an altered 15 or 16 stars, which I can't figure out how they would have removed that 7th star on the right obverse....in order to make it look correct.
John
siliconvalleycoins.com
The second star on LM-4 should point between 2 dentils, but on this coin it points at a dentil.
So this suggests a repair in this area.
John's observation above that the E1 on reverse is well separated from the wreath, instead of being overlapped by the wreath is even better evidence of a repair.
LM-4 is the only known 1797 die marriage with 13 stars.
13 star is the rarest variety.
This coin may have been bent in two different planes then flatten between 2 boards and a hammer.
Hope it's just the photo
Mine Ngc 35
Here is another for comparison
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1797
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Even if this coin has problems, it's still rare and desirable. I got lucky and bought mine off a bid wall in Boston in the 1980s. I did a search of this coin on the Heritage Auction website a couple of months ago. I was surprised to see that the majority of examples Heritage had sold had preservation issues.
I am on an iPad and can't post photos of it right now.
Here is my 1797, 13 star half dime. My grade is VF-25. The NGC grade is VF-35. The grade difference on a coin like this is not big deal. Unless you have infinite funds most collectors are happy just to own one.
Nice little coins!
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