Another Capped Bust Half for attribution 1827

[spiny]

I'll take a stab at this one, since I have a 1 in 49 chance of getting it right.

There's only two R1s, so I'll go O.104.

 

[TomB]

This is the kind of cool stuff that you learn in these threads as I had absolutely no idea that there are only two R1 1827 die marriages. I would have thought that there were perhaps 8-10 R1 die marriages for this year. Thanks!

 

Do you have a scan of the coin? The obverse certainly looks like the obverse for the O.104, but I can't really tell the alignment of the I and T on the reverse.

 

Also, how is the toning in-hand? It appears to be quite iridescent.

[spiny]

Too funny! (if I actually guessed it) I found the rarity listings on the Bust Half Pricing website and was just being a smartass.

 

I'm not sure what would help discern the alignment of the I & T, a bigger picture?

 

It has retoned steel blue to russet over a cleaning. There's still quite a bit of luster around the protected areas that is only slightly toned. It looks very nice from a distance.

[Mozin]

You "almost" got lucky. This could have been obverse 28 with both of its marriages R5. Turns out you have O-120 which is R3.

 

Now that you have started on Bust Halves maybe you should try a few more.

[spiny]

Thank you, Mozin. I got 8 or 9 of them in a collection that I bought a few years ago. It seemed like enough, but not enough to buy the book and get into them any further. Maybe one of these days when I get one or more of my uncompleted sets finished...

[spiny]

I do have a question on the lines under the bust. I would imagine that they would be key markers in identifying the die. Any idea of the cause? They seem a little excessive to be just from die polishing.

[Mozin]

I do have a question on the lines under the bust. I would imagine that they would be key markers in identifying the die. Any idea of the cause? They seem a little excessive to be just from die polishing.

 

You are correct in saying the die defect lines are diagnostic on this particular obverse #15 for the year 1827. There are some varieties where these die lines come and go throughout production of the marriage coins so the lines are not always diagnostic. The lines on your coin are in the most common place found on the halves. As far as I can recall they are caused by die polishing, probably to remove traces of die clashing; can't think of anything else that would cause them because they obviously were on the die when the coins were made.

 

If you happen on a PL Early Commemorative you might well see die polish lines covering the entire field area. The 1937-S Boone PL always seems to show up with abundant die polish lines. Remember the Bust series was in production one hundred years earlier so the actual production methods were far more primitive and clashing was quite common.

[TomB]

I agree with Mozin's attribution. The odd thing is that the O.104 (obverse 2) also has raised die lines from the milling and beneath the bust.

[James_OldeTowne]

Another vote for O-120. Actually, it's given an R3 rating in Overton, but I believe it is more common that, and when in high grades, this die marriage tends to be attractively struck.

 

James

[nwcs]

While we're here, can someone help me identify mine?

 

[Mozin]

While we're here, can someone help me identify mine?

 

 

This one is a little harder to say for sure. It appears to be O-118 R3. The key point was on the reverse where the upper arrowhead seems to touch A, and on the obverse star 13 nearly touches the hair curl.

 

This is a very nice coin. What grade did it get from the grading service?

[James_OldeTowne]

I will guess O-118, and a slider-unc grade AU-58.

 

James

[nwcs]

Yep, it's in a PCGS 58 holder. Beautiful coin, too. O-118, thanks guys!

[spiny]

Same here. Thanks everyone!

 

That is a sweet coin, nwcs!