Braided Hair Half Cents, 1849-1857, Circulation Issue

I went a coin show in Oshkosh, Wi last Sunday morning. they usually have about 50 dealers. A lot of them I have seen now and again sometime at the smaller coin show in Green Bay. By the time I arrived, the place was fairly crowded and some dealers had them in line so it was hard to even get a glance what they had to offer. As usual, most dealers had the staples of Morgan dollars, Walkers and Quarters. A lot of customers were busy looking for those coins to fill their slots with lists in hand going thru the discount boxes. After I BS'd with a couple of dealers, I decided to start asking if any had any either raw or graded Half Cents from the 1850s. Not surprising most did not recall having any or just brought some saying "If I have any, they will be in these" The Braided Hair Half Cents only was from 1849-1857 and all with very low mintages. T have another motive which I will share at a different time but its the 1850 half cent which seems rather rare as well.

I was able to locate a dealer from IL that thought he had a couple of them graded. It took him awhile to locate them and "dust them off"... Not many collectors seem to bother with this type. He also said that most collectors buy just one and are done with it. They also go for about the same price as well with any of those years. He showed me a 1854 MS62 NGC for $275 and a 1853 MS61 PCGS for the same amount. The 1853 looked under graded and had a better appearance than the 1854. Anyways, I was short of cash but he did start me thinking, why not seriously start looking for this set. I got his card and said he does not have a website. I bet if I called him he may take $500 for both. I looked on Ebay and yikes $$$.

Anyways, All you old time collectors that never bother with anything in the 20th or 21st century, I maybe coming over to your side after all.... Especially the oldest coins I have that are graded at a 1951 PF nickel and quarters in the 1950s.

I would be open to any advice.

Thanks for listening!

Keith

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