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Question about 1861 half dime

Started by RI AL,

3 posts in this topic

RI AL

RI AL

Posted
Posted

Here's a real technical question about 1861 half dimes. Does anyone know if all varieties are missing the left serif at the bottom of "I" in UNITED? I will post a picture but don't know if it will show clearly. Trying to figure out the variety of this one...or if it IS one. Neither "The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Dimes" nor the Valentine book make mention of it.

 

Many thanks.

 

RI Al

 

1861obv.jpg

 

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RGT

RGT

Posted
Posted

I looked at the photos of the two 1861's that I have and they both seem to have missing or very weak bottom left serifs on the "I". One of these is a V6 and the other is likely a V2 or V3, but attribution is a bit difficult from the available references. I never really noticed the serif before.

 

I think that the various varieties primarily differ in date placement so it may be that the master hub had this defect and all 1861's have this weak serif. The V4-V7 are all varieties of the so-called 1861/0, which is more likely due to a defective date punch. The V6 is also a doubled die variety that was possibly made from the same hub.

 

I don't really know the answer to your question but if you post it on the Seated Half Dime Q&A board at Gerry Fortin's Seated Liberty Dime web site I'm sure that MrHalfDime (Steve Crane) will have a detailed answer for you.

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