Thought it might be fun to see how well known this variety is. Here are the photos I saw on eBay and here are some pics I took to make it a little easier
I think I got it. I remembered something about it but the one I remembered is probably a different year (or denomination?). NGC has it, I think. Edit: NGC also says about the other one "It should be noted that, in addition to the [variety], this sub-type is distinguished by a much larger protuberance of Liberty's gown to the left of her shield. Historically, this mass has been described as a rock, but in fact it is simply her bunched up gown, as she sits upon a chair that is obscured by her gown in Christian Gobrecht's adopted model of Thomas Sully's obverse design. This chair was plainly evident in Sully's earlier sketches." Gosh, I always thought she was sitting on a rock.
Yes, this is the W-14 Bisected date and speared olive bud. Generally I’m with @Collecting Nut and don’t collect varieties but coins struck by the CSA while they had taken over the New Orleans mint is important enough that I made an exception.
Isn't it also considered a "no drapery" but due to die polish? That's what NGC says about it and the PCGS examples show the weak or missing drapery along with the bisected date and speared olive. https://s3.amazonaws.com/ngccoin-production/variety-plus/819831-1-1545065569-thumb.jpg https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1861-o-50c-w-14-bisected-date-speared-olive-bud/516984
I hope not. The drapery is not a factor for me. The important part is that it’s a W-14 CSA issue. “W-14 is also one of the varieties of the 1861-O half dollar that Bill Bugert (2013) attributes to the Confederate States of America. On this variety, a die crack bisects the date along the left edge of the digit 6 and the upper olive berry on the reverse is bisected by a pair of parallel lines.”
