Been awhile since a new Overton discovery and got me thinking if anybody has any stories, rumors, or just pure speculation on any currently unknown die marriages. The 1795 O-118 seems like it has to be out there somewhere. 1795 is a big year for half dollars and I think Overton would not make such a silly error. Rumors of ANOTHER 1827 die marriage will probably never end.
I've often wondered how 1827 came to have so_many_varieties when other years of similar mintage did not. Given the total mintage of some Bust Halves, and factoring known die lives and the assumption of destructive events in the striking process, it's not hard to believe that their variety identification isn't complete.
Several contributing factors--although probably not the only ones... First, 1827 was the first year the mintage exceeded 3.5 million and it did so by almost 2 million coins at 5.49 million. The dies simply weren't ready for that kind of output. Second, 4 of the die marriages were struck using reverse dies that were already worn out from previous usage during 1825 and 1826 and therefore didn't produce as many coins as new ones would have. Third, 3 of the die marriages although they are dated 1827 were actually struck in 1828 and included in that year's mintage total.
