2016 Oshkosh Coin show posted by walnutto

[CSJournals-migration]

Braided Hair Half Cents, 1849-1857, Circulation Issue

 

I went the 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 1850's. Not surprising most didn't 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 1950's.

 

I would be open to any advice.

 

Thanks for listening!

 

Keith

 

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[Six Mile Rick]

Keith,

A nice B.U. braided hair half cent is SWEET!! If you can afford one then start a type set with it or a short set. If they are beyond your budget then look for something more inline with your budget. Coin collecting is for enjoyment --- Not financial debt. I have seen many collectors take on a bit more than they can handle. Beautiful coins can do that to you.

 

Collect the type of coins you can afford and Enjoy what you collect!!

Rick

[Six Mile Rick]

On a personal opinion of budget verses MS62 or MS63 1850's coins.

 

Look at a few AU58 coins for the same dates and you may find that they look better and are a bit more affordable to boot!

[Lucky One]

Hello fellow enthusiast and welcome to the other side. I don't live far from Oshkosh and make the trip occasionally myself. A great group of dealers too.

 

I put together a complete set of these (less the 1793, couldn't find one I liked) in XF-unc and had several lustrous beauties in the set. I thought then and still think that it is a series ripe for the picking simply because it gets no respect from younger collectors and the number of buyers is small compared to the coins available. This is a good thing though, because what it means is that the difference in price between circulated and uncirculated is not nearly as large as in more popular series, so being a buyer's market means finding the much nicer coin for not that much more money. I found all kinds of great values when putting my set together, which took about five years and many upgrades. I highly recommend them, and while you're at it take a look at the great reference works done on the subject, you might be able to steal a few great varieties at common variety price because most dealers don't bother to look for varieties and don't mind passing the deal on to those who will.

 

If you have never collected obsolete coins, may I also suggest capped bust halves by Overton variety? Again, for fifty or seventy five bucks, you can scour every show with your book in tow and grab all the scarcer R4 and aboves at pretty much common price. There is a lot of value in these also, go for the nice original looking VF, XF & AU pieces, they are about the best value grades in the series.

 

The most fun I had assembling sets was half cents, capped bust half dollars and liberty half eagles- each series has a lot of coins in it, many very rare varieties and enough of a challenge to keep the intertest of even a perfectionist like me. Hope you find a series that helps you find your real passion in the hobby. Here's wishing you the best on the other side, happy hunting my friend!