Discovery: 1861-O CSA Seated Liberty bisected date in my collection?

johnny010 · October 19, 2023 12:00PM

Years ago I bought five or six SS Republic boxes with recovered 1861-O halves. Over the years I “thought” there was something going on with one of the dates on one of the coins.

When I rejoined PCGS this year, I received a loop as an included membership token for joining…. but I lost it somewhere during the move. My wife knew I’ve been looking for it and she asked why, to which I replied, “I have this coin and I’ve always wanted to know if the date has a crack.” She replied with the expected “Oh!!!” like she was supposed to not only know what that means but also excited, which clearly she was not 😆. To that avail, she did secret shop a new loop for me and when I opened the Amazon box, was informed that was supposed to be a stocking stuffer at Christmas 🎄 ….”ooops”.

Jumping into a meeting. I’ll update and finish the story in an hour…and yes I’m aware I could have “Just saved as a draft”….

JBK · October 19, 2023 12:31PM

I hope she got you a loupe instead of a loop.

johnny010 · October 19, 2023 2:39PM

@JBK very funny, I went ahead and gave you a "LOL" credit to your account

So here we go, you'd rather see pictures, but a couple of links and references makes sense first. From my research online I found a post by Conder stating, "There are seven die combinations that were used by the Confederacy (six with Union dies one with the Confederate reverse) W-9 thru W-15. There were two marriages struck by the Union W-1 & 2, and 6 struck by the State of Louisiana W-3 thru W-8. The bisected date is obv number 6 and was used on varieties W-13 & 14. I don't know if I can post this here but this is the die pairing chart for the 1861-O halves.
"

From PCGS I found,

Based on further research there are a few options, the W13 and W14 seem most likely so lets see what our host has to say. Here is the W13 variety bisected date (what I believe I have):

...and the W14 variety with bisected date and speared olive bud (not what I have):

I "believe" my coin is a W13, obverse 6 with reverse E, produced by the Confederate State of America.

Here's my coin:

Does this look like a CSA issue?

shortnock · October 20, 2023 11:25AM

Congratulations on the specimen and the attribution.

Morgan White · October 20, 2023 11:26AM

Cool, thanks for the informative post.

Mr_Spud · October 20, 2023 11:44AM

Cool, it’s always a fun exciting thing when you find out that a coin you already own is a known variety.

johnny010 · October 20, 2023 2:22PM

Thanks
I have another of the six that’s listed as W03 Louisiana = made during the two month time Louisiana was on their own. This coin above was not attributed on the label. I paid $500 and I’m thinking it’s worth more than I gave. Wonderful piece of history.