1859 Half Dime: An unsung type coin

[RGT]

In 1859 a new hub was made for Liberty Seated Half Dimes. Valentine stated, "The new hub is of slightly lower relief. The stars are sharper pointed and are hollow in the center. The face, hair and drapery show marked differences, the arms are slimmer, the Liberty cap small, the word LIBERTY on the shield is larger, the bottom of the base less irregular and projects beyond the foot of Liberty."

 

This hub was only used on coins from the Philadelphia mint. In 1860 the obverse design was changed again to move the legend from the reverse to the obverse. In addition to the Philadelphia coins minted in 1859, only the transitional patterns minted in both 1859 and 1860 used dies from this new hub. These patterns bear no legend on either side to indicate the country of origin.

 

Essentially, this is a one year type coin with a relatively small mintage of 340,000. When I first started working on a types set I wasn't aware of this type with the hollow stars. When I first found out about it I knew I would have to include one in my set. It was working on this type set that first peaked my interest in these small coins.

 

Looking at the price structure of this date I decided that I could afford one in the MS62-MS64 range and most likely an MS63. The first thing I noticed when looking for one was that they were a bit difficult to find. The second thing I noticed was that most of the ones I did manage to find were lackluster and poorly toned with little eye appeal. About four years ago I came across an NGC MS63 at the small local show. The dealer was asking $250 which I thought was a reasonable price, but closer inspection of the coin made me decide to pass. The coin was dull and unattractive, though technically correctly graded.

 

About two years ago I finally found an attractive 1859, though it was graded AU58 by PCGS. At that point I pretty much quit looking though I did take notice when I came across one. Last week I found a PCGS MS63 on ebay. The sellers image was pretty bad and only showed the obverse. I checked the Heritage archives and found the same coin had sold about a year ago. While Heritage doesn't take the best pictures, they were much better than the ebay pictures and I decided to bid. The starting bid was a bit higher than any had sold through Heritage, but most of those seemed to fall into the lackluster poorly toned category.

 

It was only after I won that I thought to check Teletrade. I have all but given up on Teletrade since almost everything I find interesting there sells higher than I could get elsewhere. As it turns out, this coin also sold on Teletrade about three weeks before the ebay auction. On teletrade the coin went about $10 cheaper, after the juice, than it had a year earlier at Heritage. I guess I should have been checking Teletrade more often. As it is, the seller on ebay didn't really make any money on the coin after all the ebay and Paypal fees, so I guess I didn't do badly, price wise.

 

The coin arrived today and I am not dissapointed. The luster is great and the strike is very good with only a bit of weakness on the last couple of stars. The color is even and attractive though not quite as dark as the pictures make it appear. There are marks on the coin as you would expect for an MS63 but they are not distracting.

 

So, for your viewing enjoyment, here are both of my 1859, single year type half dimes. Let me know what you think.

 

 

[EZ_E]

Outstanding, informative post! Of course the mint state example exceeds the top one by far because of the beeming luster. I was not aware of this type coin but in a vague sense. It is amazing how some pursuits turn out to be so difficult. Just ask Jazzy about his pursuit for the available but allusive Randall hoard cent.

 

p.s. PM away!

[Oldtrader3]

The 1860/61 dimes are a two year type also. The mint changed from the "full-figured Liberty" to a slimmer version in 1861. The 1860/61 coins have the Type II obverse legend with the Type I Liberty.

[IGWT]

Excellent read. Thanks!

[RGT]

Thanks for the info OT3. I wasn't aware of the incremental change in the dimes at that time. I have Greer's book, but I don't collect the series and only use it for reference. The differences are a bit harder to detect without comparison with the other type for the dimes, while the 1859 half dime is easily distinguished by the hollow stars.

 

I modified the subject line to be a bit more specific. I didn't mean to imply the 1859 was the only unsung type coin.

[TomB]

Those are truly a pair of outstanding half dimes! The hollow pointed stars are easily recognized and very cool. Are you going to keep adding to your budding hoard?

[RGT]

Thanks for the comment, Tom. I do have a problem with duplicates. While I would like to collect as many different dates as I can, I find it hard to pass up attractive coins, even if I already have that date. I don't plan to actively look for more 1859s, but you never know what I might stumble across.

 

I dug the AU coin out to get another look at it. I noticed from my images that these two came from different dies, but I didn't have them attributed. There are four varieties listed for this date and the MS63 coin is a V2, the only variety with no repunching in the date. I believe the AU coin is a V4, which was a newly discovered variety when Blythe wrote his book. I can see definite repunching on all four digits though it is minor.

 

I took the original pictures of the AU coin a couple of weeks after I got my new camera. I decided to take them again to see if I could do better. The luster doesn't show up at all in the first pictures I posted. It's hard to capture in the tone, but it shows up a bit better in the new ones.

 

[Hoot]

Tremendously informative post and some wonderful half dimes.

 

Thanks!

 

Hoot

[MikeKing]

A couple of VERY nice half dimes, both special in their own way. Hard to come by, and I don't know if I would part with either.

[toyonakataro]

I'm quite jealous of your new half dime.....nice catch

[RGT]

Mike, I had one inquiry about selling the AU58, but after I got it out and looked at it again I have already decided that I can't let it go.

 

Taro, I'm glad I have a half dime to make you jealous. I have looked at your set and they all make me jealous. In addition, you are one of the few who actually puts pictures in the registry. To me, without pictures a registry set is worth nothing to anyone except the owner.

 

As a side note, there is an NGC MS63 1859 half dime closing on ebay tonight. It looks as if the coin has retoned fairly well after a dip. Not a great coin, but not too bad either. I could be wrong on the tone due to the pictures. The seller is not someone who instills a lot of trust either. Still, it's cheaper than what I paid by a bit and someone might be interested. If I didn't already have these two I might even go for it.

 

1859 Half Dime, NGC MS63

[toyonakataro]

RGT- I've noticed that half dime, too. My impression was it's been (over)dipped just like you said and I've decided to pass it. I actually have enough time to check every (slabbed) seated half dimes on eBay. I also check seated dimes section daily because sometimes seated half dimes are mistakenly listed there...I have time to kill

If you also check often, then you would notice there's a nice 1850 now on eBay..........I hope nobody will snipe me (hint hint)

[RGT]

Thanks for the heads up on the 1850.

 

I check all the half dimes, but I never thought to check the dimes for stray half dimes. I rarely check more than a day or two ahead so I actually haven't noticed the 1850 yet. Maybe if I can make sure you don't get sniped you can sell me your old junky 1850 from your registry set for a low price...

[RGT]

You were right! There are some half dimes listed with the seated dimes.

 

1861 half dime