Which Half Dollar is rarer? 1851 or 1852

seateddime · October 24, 2009 7:42AM

Any opinions on the tougher of the 2?

There is a poll on the Seated Boards but what do all the "non Seated" people think?

lathmach · October 24, 2009 7:45AM

The 1851 is.
100% of the respondents to that poll think so.

Ray

coinkat · October 24, 2009 8:03AM

I think your question is not specific as it does not consider the state of preservation...

diamondman · October 24, 2009 8:21AM

by just looking at how many were minted I would say 1852, but I know nothing about either half dollar, like how many were melted,released into circulation ect ect.

seateddime · October 24, 2009 8:33AM

regarding the grade, both are mostly found in high grades when circulated

sonoranmonsoon · October 24, 2009 9:09AM

I suspect the half dollars are similar to the dollars. As far as the dollars go, the 1851 is much more difficult to find, and more costly to purchase if located. It took me a loooong time to find an 1852. I am still looking for an 1851. When silver prices spiked to $1.03 an ounce, the few 1851's that were circulated were hoarded and I assume most must have been melted.

speety · October 24, 2009 12:54PM

<< <i>I suspect the half dollars are similar to the dollars. As far as the dollars go, the 1851 is much more difficult to find, and more costly to purchase if located. It took me a loooong time to find an 1852. I am still looking for an 1851. When silver prices spiked to $1.03 an ounce, the few 1851's that were circulated were hoarded and I assume most must have been melted. >>

I have to agree with this statement, somewhat. A big factor in the dollars are the grade you are looking for. We were able to find an AU-58 1852 rather quickly, however we looked at over half of the population of 1851 AU-58s without finding one that we liked before picking up the MS-63 coin. In MS the 1851 is more common (Not by much...) but in circulated grades the 1852 is seemingly much more common, especially problem free.

Barberian · March 29, 2023 12:19AM

@lathmach said:
The 1851 is.
100% of the respondents to that poll think so.

Ray

This is a resurrected thread to show how coin availability changes over time.

Interesting, because the 1851 has been significantly more available than the 1852 over the past year. I count seven 1851s and only one 1852 on Collector's Corner. The same has been true on eBay for several months now, with eBay going months without an 1852 recently while 1851s were always available.

This departure from the above opinions, and others such as Dick Osburn's article on rarity in the Gobrecht Journal a few years back, suggest that either the 1852s are being hoarded or a hoard of 1851's is being dispersed. Or both. Anybody have an opinion on this hunch.

bearcave · March 29, 2023 12:37AM

You are taking a 14 year old thread. They maybe more prevalent now than they were back then. Start your own thread today.

rhedden · March 29, 2023 5:48AM

I personally like revisiting old threads because attitudes towards coins change over time. It is good form to announce that it is an old thread before resurrecting, however.

2023 PCGS population report says 150 total pieces for 1851 and 131 total pieces for 1852. However, 1852 appears to be more available in the MS grades.

Here is my 1852 NGC MS63, Ex: Dick Osburn collection

...and my 1851 PCGS AU58 from GFRC

Catbert · March 29, 2023 5:55AM

@rhedden that 1851 deserves a better picture.

Shane6596 · March 29, 2023 6:21AM

That 1852

LJenkins11 · March 29, 2023 6:40AM

In addition to the PCGS population rhedden outlined above that favor 1852 with a lower pop 131 to 150, NGC's census reflects the opposite with 57 for 1851 and 83 for 1852. Now, how many of those totals for both PCGS and NGC are crack-out re-submissions? CAC has a total pop of 19 1851 and 18 1852 across all grades. No doubt about it both coins are tough. IMO 1852 is more challenging. Here are my two examples.

mr1931S · March 29, 2023 6:56AM

Which half dollar is rarer?

The one you don't have.

Barberian · March 29, 2023 9:38AM

@rhedden said:
I personally like revisiting old threads because attitudes towards coins change over time. It is good form to announce that it is an old thread before resurrecting, however.

2023 PCGS population report says 150 total pieces for 1851 and 131 total pieces for 1852. However, 1852 appears to be more available in the MS grades.

Here is my 1852 NGC MS63, Ex: Dick Osburn collection

...and my 1851 PCGS AU58 from GFRC

Wow! Beautiful coins!

I announced that this was a resurrected thread as you suggested.

rhedden · March 29, 2023 11:42AM

@Catbert said:
@rhedden that 1851 deserves a better picture.

I thought the same thing this morning. I'll have to break out the macro lens.

rhedden · March 29, 2023 11:46AM

@Barberian said:

@rhedden said:
I personally like revisiting old threads because attitudes towards coins change over time. It is good form to announce that it is an old thread before resurrecting, however.

2023 PCGS population report says 150 total pieces for 1851 and 131 total pieces for 1852. However, 1852 appears to be more available in the MS grades.

Here is my 1852 NGC MS63, Ex: Dick Osburn collection

...and my 1851 PCGS AU58 from GFRC

Wow! Beautiful coins!

I announced that this was a resurrected thread as you suggested.

I fully support resurrecting coins thread from 10, 15, 20 years ago when there is something worth discussing. I just dug up one of my own posts from 2006 this morning. Many people are interested in how coins perform (value-wise) over time. Others are interested in seeing what people said about various coins before CAC existed, etc. Some coins have large population/price changes due to hoarding or "market bubbles". All of these things are worth discussing, even if some of our "time capsule" posts from 15-20 years ago are proven wrong or just look plain old silly in 2023. I think some people might get their feathers ruffled if they posted something long ago that proved inaccurate. No need to feel that way.

HoledandCreative · March 29, 2023 10:48PM

All equally available to me. I still need all 4 versions of the 51 & 52 in the ultra-rare any grade holed.

Barberian · March 29, 2023 11:17PM

I ignore the barking because all threads are dated, and they can check the date when it was posted. I felt that this post was worthy of resurrecting because it's in such stark contrast to what I see today. I could have linked to this thread but then the solidarity of opinion back then would have been lost, and the contrast to what I perceive today would be diminished.

Nobody is saying any position is wrong here, either. Just noting the change in availability and tossing out possible explanations.

Southcounty · March 30, 2023 4:35PM

At the time that old poll was taken Dick Osburn had been amassing a significant hoard of 1851 seated half dollars. It was one of his pet dates and he accumulated significantly more than would be needed for a die marriage collection. Bill Bugert claimed that the 1852 was more rare back then, despite the fact that nobody could find an 1851 because most of them were held by Dick, but Bill remembered the market before Dick started his hoard. When Dick released his hoard he sent me three to pick from and I kept one for my collection and sent two others back, One was a PCGS AU58 and the other was an AU in a PCGS OGH, I liked the AU55 better than the AU58 side by side so I kept it, but he had many lower grade examples and some UNCs as well.

It is not uncommon for a collector or two to really move the market with the keys and semi-keys in the seated series. I have noticed certain dates and mints becoming extremely hard to find now as compared to decades ago and I suspect that those dates and mints are being hoarded to some extent as well. It is hard to be patient and wait for the hoards to be released when you really want to fill that hole, but you might over pay if you don't know which dates and mints are at play. Dick released his hoard in mass, some take their time and release them slowly to maximize the hoard profit and not saturate the market.

Barberian · March 30, 2023 11:55PM

@HoledandCreative said:
All equally available to me. I still need all 4 versions of the 51 & 52 in the ultra-rare any grade holed.

No problem. How many holes would you like in each? Where would you like the holes drilled?

BillJones · March 31, 2023 4:56AM

@seateddime said:
regarding the grade, both are mostly found in high grades when circulated

That is interesting. I suppose it’s because the melt value exceeded the face value because the discovery of gold in California upset the price ratios between the metals. The surviving 1851 and ‘52 half dollars did not see that much use. The problem was fixed by a weight reduction in 1853, “With Arrows and Rays” coins.

Catbert · July 7, 2024 12:20PM

Another thread resurrection.

PCGS AU58

PeakRarities · July 7, 2024 3:46PM

Eye appeal for days!

JohnnyCache · July 7, 2024 4:45PM

Barberian · July 7, 2024 5:05PM

Two record holders for their grades.

rec78 · July 7, 2024 7:25PM

Wow very old thread. The 1851 was the last one I got, from the FUN show Jan. 2001 I believe. I got mine from Dick Osburn after Jimmy O'Donnell didn't have one at the time and he told me that Dick Osburn had one. I went right over and bought it. I still have it.

w

Which Half Dollar is rarer? 1851 or 1852

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