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Last Coin Struck From Die?
seatedlib3991
Posts: 560 ✭✭✭✭
I was happy to win lot 53255 in Heritage's Bust coin auction last night. Anyone who wishes to see what I am talking about can look it up at Heritage. !838 NGC-45. Cost 312.00 Says "Maumee Valley Collection" on obverse.
The coin has a massive die crack on the reverse. It runs from the Ten O'clock rim, through the entire body of the eagle and goes on to the 5 O'clock rim. My question is, Would this have been the very last coin struck using that reverse die? I find it hard to believe the die was not left completely split in half. Unfortunately I love to collect die cracks but have limited knowledge of how far the minters would have gone to save a die. Anyone know if this was the last coin or not? James
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https://coins.ha.com/itm/reeded-edge-half-dollars/1838-50c-xf45-ngc-ngc-census-127-956-pcgs-population-322-933-cdn-280-whsle-bid-for-ngc-pcgs-xf45-mintage-3-546/a/60338-53255.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515
Chopmarked Trade Dollar Registry Set --- US & World Gold Showcase --- World Chopmark Showcase
With the thickness of the crack or lack thereof I would suggest that this is not the last struck from this die. I imagine that there were many more struck before the die became unusable.
Fun coin. Glad you're happy with it.
Is it the last struck? No, it is not even the latest die stage. This die marriage (GR-4) has even more die failures beyond the very cool one shown. Several more cracks develop on the reverse die along with heavy clashing. The obverse die suffers as well.
Hard to believe because the die crack shown above bisects the entire reverse. But the early Mint showed great determination to use dies long after they began failing.
Lance.
Thanks for the info. I subscribe to the Reeded edge Newletter and I tried to find more info from PCGS and NGC but failed. I knew the GR number but didn't know the Die lived on. They must have had a great spot welder. james
I’m always amazed how long these dies lasted after splitting in multiple places. In some cases they kept striking after pieces fell out or spalled off.
There could be many struck subsequently.
A good example of such a coin is the 1799 BB-168 Bust dollar. The reverse die split in two almost certainly at the commencement of striking, as any with no bisected reverse are quite rare or possibly nonexistent. I have not yet found one. It is bisected rim to rim in all of my examples and there are hundreds of these extant.
Now that I know they exist, I am going to take a flier and see what might be out there. I would love to see any coins someone on this site might have that shows how the die cracks continued to develop. I think is has already been mentioned it is GR-4. Here is hoping. James
That will buff out.
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
My coin arrived today. I think I may have solved a mystery. I think I know why the 1839-1842
reverse design was abandoned. Eagle Envy! The eagle on the 1838 looks twice as big as the eagle on my 1839 seated. James