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My latest Bust half!

6 posts in this topic

It arrived today, a banner coin day, as two were delivered in the mail, this one and another little lady that will be the subject of another post wink.gif This one is an 1818/17, and although it's been cleaned, it still looks pretty good, and it also seems pretty well struck. I have no idea on the overton variety (anyone care to guess?), but I am pretty happy with this one under $40.

1818obv.jpg

1818rev.jpg

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Hi Jeff,

 

Your latest bust half is an 1818/17 Overton 101 R.1, I cannot see the die crack at star 11 and on the lower reverse that would make it an O-101a. This is an easy variety to attribute, the first 8 is larger than the second, on the reverse the right side of I and T line up, and 50 is very close. There are three overdates for 1818, 101 and 103 share the same obverse die, 101, 102, and 103 have different reverse dies.

 

This is a historically significant coin. On the outside point of star thirteen, there should be a small notch or "scallop". This was assistant engraver John Reich's method of marking his signature on the dies he prepared from 1807 to 1817. The obverse die used on 1818/17 O-102 does not have Reich's signature, it also has a lower relief and finer hair detail. John Reich had resigned in March, 1817 due to worsening eyesight and no raise in his $600/yr salary in ten years. The chief engraver, Robert Scot, created a new master die in 1817 which lowered the relief (design type 4 1817-1825), probably due to metal flowage problems and to lengthen die usage.

 

How did a die used in 1818 have Reich's signature? In 1817, only two obverse dies used the design type 3 (1812-1817) with Reich's signature - 1817/13 and the R.7 1817/14 (7 known). The 1818/17 O-101 and O-103 varieties used a die that John Reich had prepared in 1817, but evidently not used until the 1818/17 overdate. Numismatists can only speculate this die was possibly set aside when the new master die was created by Scot, or possibly some other reason.

 

This was a great buy at under $40, it is a nice coin with lots of history.

 

Bill

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Bill, thanks for all that great information! I really appreciate it. As requested, here is a closeup of the overdate as well as what I believe is John Reich's "signature."

1818cu.jpg

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Jeff,

 

Great close-up picture of Reich's "signature". Also, check out the lettered edge. They are occasionally doubled, tripled, flip over doubled, overlapped, and often the words are misspelled. Any of these errors will add value to your coin. Dealers, except for specialists, usually don't check the edge, and slabs can forever hide the edge. Grading services should use clear plastic for lettered edge coins, this is one of the main problems bust half collectors have with slabs.

 

Regards,

Bill

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