Post your nastiest coin that you bought because it's a tough variety/die marriage
lermish
Posts: 4,560 ✭✭✭✭✭
Inspired by this comment from another thread:
@Barberian said:
I'll also buy a nasty coin if it's a rare DM.
1875-S/CC FS-502
Covered in tar AND cleaned/dippy as someone attempted to get the tar off. At least it was cheap...
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
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I had a 76s DDO I bought as part of a junk pile. It was rough, ill look for pictures
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
I'll play... I probably have more into this piece than I wanted to but 1797 Stemless Wreath is a tougher variety and this one is an S-132... at R5+ it's probably my rarest coin (I think around 35 known?). Bob Grellman graded it 10 details/netted to 5 for corrosion and a rim hit... I think it might have been cleaned at some point too.
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This one qualifies for sure:
When I first started collecting FE’s, I quickly learned how rare & tough to find the 1857 S-7 variety was. There is a lone AU58, followed by only a few XF45’s. I was attracted to this example & it became the first one of these I owned. I still have it. The reverse spot is obvious & the effort to remove it was noticeable. But, it is XF, which would place it among the highest graded. Not only that, but the $20 outlines are pronounced. Finally, outside of the spot, it has really good eye appeal. I also have a straight graded XF45, but the detail on this one is better.
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1804 DBLC:
Smitten with DBLCs.
Cool! A coin quality limbo dance thread.
1874-S WB-5 (R7) glamour shot
Reality - sweet!
This coin is becoming famous. Maybe I should put together a calendar from my collection.
I'm actually delighted because this coin demonstrates that one can separate the similar WB-2 (R5) from WB-5 (R7) using the position of the arrows in grades down to Fair-2 rather than other characters that get worn off the coin at higher grades.
This 1840-O WB-6 (R6) is another calendar candidate.
I just can't do it. Just to say I have a rare variety without enjoying the look of the coin is just not for me. I might make an exception for a 1878-S half, but even with that coin, I'd be paying up big time for the privilege to say I owned one. Just not for me coin brothers!
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress,
running like a water color in the rain...."
Gosh, how many times did I use the word "just" above. Poor writing!
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress,
running like a water color in the rain...."
Could not resist. This is a reverse “splasher” or die trial of a Pattern half dollar, struck on a thin white metal or lead uniface disk. The disk is now cracked (into two pieces) from 3:00 to the center, then diagonally down toward 8:00.
it is classified as a Judd-A-1870-2 / Pollock-3389, and certified by PCGS as GENUINE .
2 Know of this type but the A-1870-2 in unique and is the plate piece in Judd 10th edition. This piece as noted in the Pollock reference as unique at the time as only this piece was known however the J-A1870-1 is a whole sample not split.
Ex B. Max Mehl; Stack's, March 1993, lot 2551; ANR, July 2005, /lot 63; Legends May 2022, / Lot 321 (where it was raw - uncertified).
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This coin doesn't look so bad overall, but has damage at Liberty's head. I looks like the start of a drill hole. It was enough to get the additional designation of being bent.
It is a 1844-O V-2 half dime. The V-2 marriage (with the small O reverse) almost always has near medal turn. This example is close to normal coin orientation.
I had ordered several Crain (mrhalfdime) Collection coins from David Perkins (who handled the original sales of Steve's coins), and this coin was mistakenly included in the delivery. I let him know, and he named a price, which I decided to pay rather than return the coin. I still haven't seen another example of the normal coin turn orientation of this die marriage.
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
Totally understandable. The issue (in my series at least) is that when putting together a variety set, there may not be any option. It's not a matter of dollars to spend but a matter of what exists (or how many decades until it becomes available).
Whether the variety collector would rather have a near-permanent empty spot vs a less than ideal coin is up to each variety collector.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
For comparison, here's a V-2b, which has peculiar lines near stars 2 & 3 and 12 & 13. My photos show the die orientation. This coin is among the roughest I have in my marriage/state collection.
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
Bought this today at my LCS…..I don’t think it’s that ugly and I don’t know much about the die marriage either tbh.
I just know that I bought it _because _ of the rotated reverse die……so thought it appropriate for this thread. As I also posted to the Seated thread, it doesn’t really fit in any of my sets and it’s kind of an oddball for my collection. I just thought it was pretty cool and I’m a sucker for Civil War dates.
Btw, as an aside…..there’s just nothing better than hanging out in a well run LCS. I’ve been going to mine for basically 20ish years and have a great friendship with the owners. I appreciate what they (and all you LCS owners here) do so much!
Sorry, not ugly enough to qualify.....
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress,
running like a water color in the rain...."
The very last die state of the 1922 "No D, Worn Reverse" Die Pair #4B Cent, which I bought because it proves that the mint mark finally wore off of this die in use, making it a legitimate "No D" coin. I had already owned a circulated specimen of this die state, but I wanted a higher grade specimen before I announced the new "No D" die state for this obverse.
This coin has had a rough past, but does carry interesting history. My understanding is that most of 1868 silver dollars were sent to China for international trade. Many of the 1868 examples I see these days are Proof examples. I purchased this coin raw from a dealer many years ago; the coin appeared as though someone had used a pretty abrasive cleaning method.
That's cool! I believe I have a coin of that die and state in my Lincoln cent album as a 1922 plain filler... the date is near completely gone. I recognize the die state to your coin more than the deciphering last date numeral itself.
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Check yours against the book and let me know what you decide.
TD
I took one look at this 1811 Bustie and had to have it. Love the die cracks. O-112 (R.4-), possibly O-112a (R.5).
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Cal fractional BG603 period 1 round dollar VF25 damaged. Very challenging to find
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My second submission. Not my series but it was available for a song. I cringe every time I look at this coin - not at the coin itself but at the mental image of the act that got it this way.
Smitten with DBLCs.
This contemporary counterfeit always comes weakly struck and typically well worn. This is the variety that got me interested in collecting them, it took me decades after first seeing an example to own one.
Sean Reynolds
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1833 LM-5 R7. Was delighted to win it and haven't found another to upgrade it. But it's, um, homely.
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Super rare coin. Not the best looking but very cheap!
I love it!
Very rare, R-6, it just "doesn't photograph well"....
Straight graded, though.
Pricing can be fugly as well
Different strokes. One of the wonderful things about this hobby is that there are countless ways to collect coins.
I admit I do take die marriage collecting to an extreme sometimes. I like finding new things and rare things using my knowledge or the information available to me. It's just an extension of what I've been doing in my career. That 1874-S WB-5 is absolutely horrible, but it does serve a purpose for me. Much like a damaged specimen of an undescribed insect species still has value for someone writing a description of that species.
I enjoy your beautiful coins a lot and have added a few to my collection lately because of your influence. I sincerely thank you for the introspection it has generated in my collecting. For me, though, there is still something special to searching for and cherrying rare die marriages that interest me. It's at least as interesting and rewarding to me as buying a pretty coin. Watching a cherry sell for more than what I paid for it is fun too.
Another for the calendar. No regrets. Its silver content is worth more than what I paid for it.
55/54 WB-1 with prominent overdate.
As a Type Set collector of high end coins, I needed a Seated Liberty Dollar from 1853 - 1855 WITH Arrows.
In my opinion, here’s the ugliest coin in my collection - pop only 3, 14 finer (but those are out of my price range):
Yes, I’m a slave to the PCGS Registry and CAC. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t have this coin. Confession feels good, lol.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
IMO, CAC often misses what I believe is corrosion on these blotchy looking coins with lighter patches. I see some things along those lines that I'd scrutinize if I have the coin in-hand. A lot of those white patches have a darker mark in the middle which resembles what I see on corroded coins.
Ouch. I just checked the Trueview. Really beautiful toning for those who love vivid toning, but it has some etched surfaces, micro-pitting, and quite a few hits for a 65+. It definitely spent some time in a less-than-optimal environment. CAC loves these lightly corroded coins. I just had one with similar issues straight grade with CACG. This is the one issue I have with CACG grading, and I'd love to sit down with JA sometime with a microscope and hammer this out with him.
I won't even mention the Heritage auction photos. HA can take some brutally honest photos, and they were brutal with this coin. It is definitely a Barberian CAC Hall of Shame candidate. Here's another from my collection.
Am I getting warmer……?
(I know its dark side….but was recently purchased solely for the sun face undertype, which I’m thrilled to have in my collection)
No. That's still a pretty nice coin. I like Portuguese / Brazilian coins.
Here's "April" from my "Nasty Barberian coins" calendar - dug up from a garden on Long Island by my grandfather.
Well…..normally I wouldn’t buy a coin with a big black line going straight through the center but the clear sun face undertype justified the exception …….in my eyes anyway.
A rubber band mark cannot take away from what is a really neat coin.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
1843-O - Lg O 25c. Possible P-01.
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One of my favorite Die Marriage/Die States, yours is a 112a, for sure.
It doesn't appear to be the 112.4 state with the Reverse die cracks, but the split (adjoining) crack that goes to s8 and s9 really defines where the 'a' state is solidified in my mind. The crack to s8 is a little faint on yours, but it is there.
I would classify this coin as an O-112a (112.3) from the images, and it is a solid r.5 at that.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
1840-O With Drapery - Large "O"
From Briggs: "16 pieces verified as of 8/91... This variety has a very strange anomaly concerning the rims and it's reeding. The collar used to strike the reeding on this coin has a double read or "seam". This "seam" is basically twice as thick as the other reeds seen on this edge and is very noticeable... To date this is the rarest collectable Seated Liberty Quarter."
I think I may have posted this one before, but she’s a rough one.
It is an 1821 O-107.2 I don’t know the rarity but I’ve only ever seen pictures of 2 other ones
Found it
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Not a variety, but I needed a type 1 seated quarter for my photo cert type set. Sometimes I have to take what I can find. I'm glad I did, because I've never found another.
@KensCoins2287 That is a rough one. :'( However, FYI, we have the the 107.2 as an r.5? Die State for the r.2 Die Marriage.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
Only an R.5? Man, I bought that ugly thing and it’s not even that rare! Haha
Seriously though, I feel like it may be tougher that an R.5. Don’t you guys have a census among your members? I’d be curious to know how many are know to exist.
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Good morning Ken
As I think you know, "r.5?" is meant to state as "thought to be r.5" based on the number known or reported or having been seen. It's never an exact science, and the idea with the question mark after can be interpreted as "and we're still not quite sure".
Die State (and duplicate DM) reporting is not mandatory for BHNC members, and I can tell you for sure, not every member reports those. Heck, sometimes it takes more than a few nudges to get just updated Die Marriage census data!
That said, the Die State study is organized and considered by a Club committee chaired by a few senior Members with a wealth of experience. Some Members, like myself, keep and share very detailed Die State notes of our collections and findings with that group.
Of course there are also a lot of CBH aficionados that are not BHNC members, so any quantity numbers I have access to (or could share) from official Club information would not be definitive.
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Not to derail this thread, but I feel the need to add something here for those that might be "following along".
As many of you know, I am a member of the BHNC and a huge fan of Die State progressions, going so far as to call myself an admitted "Crack Addict".
However, I caution anyone against either discounting or placing too much emphasis on specific Die State rarity values.
Some particular Die States are very important and extremely desirable, and can help certain coins command fantastic premiums. Conversely there are more than a few Die States that are indeed rare but have little distinction or popularity, and those tend to carry very little premium to the primary Die Marriage issue, except amongst the most ardent of Die State collectors.
Therefore, especially with some of the more esoteric Die States, I would pay close attention to the Die Marriage rarity value of the issue as well. This is just my personal opinion and offered as a caveat emptor to those new to chasing these fantastic and unusual coins.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
I wanted only the 1799 with the normal date, NOT the overdate.
This is seen as ugly by some, but it’s the 1856-S/s quarter. Fairly scarce. It actually looks significantly better in hand, the pics are terrible, it also has a green CAC sticker nowadays, but for me the flecks are a testament to the originality.
I'm BACK!!! Used to be Billet7 on the old forum.
Or what didn’t come off in it’s light cleaning many moons ago
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Not especially hideous, but one of the only ways I'd get excited about buying a 78 7TF Rev of 78 in G is when it's a VAM 123.
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