Original, Crusty 1838 and 1839 half dimes
rhedden
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These coins are a complement to my earlier post with the dipped/ rainbow retoned 1837 and 1838-O half dimes. The coins below have their original skin, and I love it when they look this way. The 1839-O, despite having a couple of marks, is a real stinker to find in XF or higher.
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Andrew
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
I like these coins to the cleaned/toned versions in that thread.....
Seated coins are nice to be sure..... a challenge of large proportions however.....
1838 contains many different die marriages, but most of them are pretty forgettable, involving nothing more than slightly different date position relative to the devices. Exceptions are the so-called "Small Stars" varieties (V1 & V2) with heavily lapped stars, the Crumbled Die V10, and the V14 with a large die break, or 'internal cud' which resembles an additional berry in the wreath. Your coins do not appear to be examples of any of these.
The 1839 appears to be an example of Valentine's V1, as distinguished from the only other die marriage for the year, V2, which exhibits strong repunching of 39 in the date. That is a particularly nice coin, by the way.
Your comments about the 1839-O are quite correct. The 1839-O is difficult to locate above the grade of EF. The 1839-O V1 Large O is a well known rarity, perhaps the rarest of all of the Liberty Seated half dimes made for circulation. The V2 has a severely shattered reverse die in almost all known die states. The V3 exhibits randomly rotated dies, with virtually all examples showing different rotation. The V5 is significant only in very late die states, where the obverse die shattered. The V6 was nearly unknown, except for the Valentine plate coin, until recently when a concerted effort to locate an example from among some of the largest and most complete collections of the series yielded just two examples.
A great series, full of interesting varieties.
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with the board members. I have about 10 more 1838-1839 coins in grades from G-VF, but I didn't photograph them because I didn't think there were any varieties in there worth seeking. I do have an 1839-O with the shattered reverse, but it's a dog of a coin. In addition, one 1838 example is a "small stars" variety, but it's only a Good-6. I'll be working on photographing some of the 1840 to 1844 coins the next few evenings.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Remember that there are a few members on here that would kill to be able to buy many of these that you post.