1860 H10C - "Coin Without a Country" (GFRC)
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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
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Comments
I thought about buying one of those back in the 1970's but never did.
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.
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.
I have a PCGS MS63 in my collection. Mine has a very poor strike, which is odd, considering that only 100 were minted.
rhedden stated:
"Mine has a very poor strike, which is odd, considering that only 100 were minted."
This comment would certainly make sense under normal circumstances, but a study of the extant examples of the J-267 reveal that most if not all exhibit the same weak strike, particularly in the areas of the head and lower left side of the shield on the obverse, and the left bow on the reverse. Most unusual for a pattern coin with just 100 examples minted.
The second obverse die example that I discovered, mentioned by yosclimber above, and published in the Gobrecht Journal #124, differs by more than just the absence of the diagonal obverse die scratch at the shield and the stronger strike. Had these been the only differences, they might be explained simply as a different die state. The most significant difference is the placement of the date relative to the shield line, skirt bulla, and the dentils below. It is without question a different (second) obverse die - for a coin with a mintage of just 100 pieces! Another half dime enthusiast has identified one or possibly even two additional examples of this new die marriage pictured on the Heritage Archives site, but the whereabouts of those examples remains unknown. So keep looking and studying all J-267's. There are more of the V2 out there, currently unattributed as such.
The good news is that I discovered a previously unknown die marriage for for a rare pattern coin, now designated as J-267 V2. The bad news is that I still do not own a J-267 V1 pattern half dime, yet another major expense.
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
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
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.