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Observations and thoughts about bust half varieties.
JRocco
Posts: 14,277 ✭✭✭✭✭
I just received this 27 from a great collector and I was cataloging it with its Overton number and was noticing a few things that struck my attention and curiosity. This coin is an O-132 variety. Most would think that all coins struck from this die pair Obverse 21 s2 - Reverse Y would be cookie cutter replica's of each other- differing only by die wear as the dies aged. Well...... Look at this beauty for example:
Look at this 2 in the date---its broken----I love this. How many coin series would have a coin like this with a beautiful broken number in it's date be almost---- overlooked? This broken 2 does not appear in every O-132 example, so aside from the variety itself, there are varieties INSIDE the varieties. At some point the 2 just plain broke...
This obverse as another example, differs from obverse 21 in that it is a later die state and shows much less re-cutting on the stars. Well.... how many different degrees of this re-cutting show ??? You guessed it ---many many many. How many series of coins show these kinds of varieties WITHIN their varieties???
This die also shows a nice re-cutting of the C in 50 C on the reverse and some examples show die defect bumps around the 50 C ---- do they all??? You guessed it - NO, Once again ... varieties WITHIN the varieties.
And, did I mention that they are really really beautiful coins also....
Yea---you guessed it- I love these bust halves.
Look at this 2 in the date---its broken----I love this. How many coin series would have a coin like this with a beautiful broken number in it's date be almost---- overlooked? This broken 2 does not appear in every O-132 example, so aside from the variety itself, there are varieties INSIDE the varieties. At some point the 2 just plain broke...
This obverse as another example, differs from obverse 21 in that it is a later die state and shows much less re-cutting on the stars. Well.... how many different degrees of this re-cutting show ??? You guessed it ---many many many. How many series of coins show these kinds of varieties WITHIN their varieties???
This die also shows a nice re-cutting of the C in 50 C on the reverse and some examples show die defect bumps around the 50 C ---- do they all??? You guessed it - NO, Once again ... varieties WITHIN the varieties.
And, did I mention that they are really really beautiful coins also....
Yea---you guessed it- I love these bust halves.
Some coins are just plain "Interesting"
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Thanks
P.S. Ok OK so its more than 1 word..... How the heck did Russ ever get that reverse to look so good when the best I can do with my crappy set-up is th get the coin to 1/2 show up ???????????/
<< <i>How the heck did Russ ever get that reverse to look so good >>
I shot it about 2 billion times.
Russ, NCNE
radioactive? That thing glows !
<< <i>
<< <i>How the heck did Russ ever get that reverse to look so good >>
I shot it about 2 billion times.
Russ, NCNE >>
<< <i>Hey man, you should have put ebay in the title, or shipping. Or, I shouldn't have posted... haha oh no, now I killed it for sure. >>
HaHaHa stman.... Yea, what was I thinking..........
Here is my '27
The Whisker Cheek Collection - Top 50 Peace VAM Registry
Landmark Buffalo Collection
You've stumbled across the magical world of die state progression. Be careful as it can be addicting.
With few exceptions all BH's are trackable by die state. You can pick just about any variety and catalogue it's progression down the die state road. Many, but not all, start off as perfect dies. Then you start to see the metal flow lines appearing, then the die cracks arise...first as faint little hairlines, then the die chips, the the cracks increase in thickness and length, then the kind of them all.....the cud appears. If you really want to get fancy you'll pick a die that not only is in it's original die marriage but has been swapped out and used again later in conjunction with a different opposite side die! This is called a re-marriage and these can be quite tricky and actually span multiple years.
It can be fascinating to do a die state progression set on bust coinage. Once it's complete (which can be difficult to do if the die ran for a long time) you are able to watch the die from birth to death and you really feel that you get to know the die. If you pick a very common R1 variety these studies can be a relatively inexpensive way to have some great numismatic fun. I'm currently doing a die state study on the 1832 LM5 half dime. I believe our own JrGman is also doing a bust half dime die state study although I don't recall which one.
<< <i>JRocco,
You've stumbled across the magical world of die state progression. Be careful as it can be addicting.
With few exceptions all BH's are trackable by die state. You can pick just about any variety and catalogue it's progression down the die state road. Many, but not all, start off as perfect dies. Then you start to see the metal flow lines appearing, then the die cracks arise...first as faint little hairlines, then the die chips, the the cracks increase in thickness and length, then the kind of them all.....the cud appears. If you really want to get fancy you'll pick a die that not only is in it's original die marriage but has been swapped out and used again later in conjunction with a different opposite side die! This is called a re-marriage and these can be quite tricky and actually span multiple years.
It can be fascinating to do a die state progression set on bust coinage. Once it's complete (which can be difficult to do if the die ran for a long time) you are able to watch the die from birth to death and you really feel that you get to know the die. If you pick a very common R1 variety these studies can be a relatively inexpensive way to have some great numismatic fun. I'm currently doing a die state study on the 1832 LM5 half dime. I believe our own JrGman is also doing a bust half dime die state study although I don't recall which one. >>
I have an 1814/3 coming that has some incredible nooks, cracks and crannies that I will post when I can that further shows what you are saying.
Thanks clad for taking the time to explain and hopefully, educating a few of us here. Guys like you make these boards great.
Capped Bust Half Series
Capped Bust Half Dime Series