I haven't gotten sucked into capped-bust coinage very deeply, but I saw this pair on eBay and thought they might be worth a gamble. I honestly thought the 1819 might be a counterfeit, given its cartoonish-looking date and that one crude, mangled star. After studying it in-hand, I think it's an 1819/18 Large 9; I see a number of examples on the Web with that same mangled star, although most don't have it. I welcome any input on variety/authenticity. Pics to follow, one coin per post...
1819/18(?): Yes, that's a deep gouge on the obverse, and yes, it's got an old cleaning, but not a terrible one. I like the CircCam effect it's got going.
1832: This one still has quite a bit of luster around the peripheral devices, but it's definitely been cleaned; those reverse fields are flat as pancakes, and the spots scream "bad dip". Still, it's got a ton more meat than any other CBH I've owned; AU details, perhaps?
The 1819 is an O-104 R-1 pup stars 2&4 are recut. All 1819 over date share the same style 1's which are different than regular marriages. Rev. The E in united is missing the upper serif. T and I line up. The 32 is an l-106 R-1 They both look genuine to my eyes.
Thanks, Paddy! Even though these are both problem coins, I'm going to study their detail levels a bit more and try to figure out "what they would grade if only". They've already reminded me that my "crudely defined details mean fake coins" rule-of-thumb doesn't work for early capped-bust material.
Same for the E in statEs (missing serif). @-jeffB you know 1819 is quite a common year and many overdate varieties exist: O-101 small 9 over 8 O-102 - 106 large 9 over 8 I’d buy a problem-free Bustie instead of those two coins. If I can find pictures of my 1819 Bustie, I’ll share them with you.
Jeff let me give you a link to a site that you'll use not only for attribution of bust halfs, but finding coin shows, auctions, and an e bay style store that you can buy it now ,or bid on an auction. If you don't know Alan of coinzip.com you should. Coinzip is a site where you can find a lot of information as well a guide to a coin show away from an area you are not familiar with. A quick example go to the site coinzip.com lets say you're in a city you don't know. You see that there's a coin show but are clueless on how to find this show....well just click the button and it will give you turn by turn directions to the event. Let say you buy another bust half and want to find out its o number. Just click on the tab and you'll be taken to a link that will allow you to attribute your coin. To answer your question...yes cleaned and some damage but both coins have details. Sometimes in order to find what we are looking for we need settle for a tad bit less than perfect. No worries as beauty is in the eye of the beholder and as long as we are happy with our choices in life what others think or believe truly doesn't matter! You have two amazing pieces of history in your hands....take pleasure of their exisence in your collection. And dream of their travels through time.
Both those coins are genuine. Yes, a lot of the earlier coinage (Flowing Hair, Draped Bust, Capped Bust) appears to have made more crudely than later coinage (Seated Liberty, Morgan, etc.) Can't rely on the "crude details = fake" rule of thumb with the earlier coins. I suggest you find a problem-free example for the first one. The huge gash in the left obverse field reduces the eye appeal considerably, as well as the marks on Liberty and some of the longer scratches on the reverse. My suggestion for the second one is to stay away from it. The peculiar splotchy toning suggests an old cleaning. It also reduces the eye appeal. Finding better examples instead of buying either of those two coins (make sure to look for coins with original surfaces that have good eye appeal) will not be difficult.
This series is new to me. I bought my first a couple weeks ago. Your coins are AWESOME!! I can see how it would be easy to get sucked into these. Here's mine: Now I need a later, reeded edge for my Type album. Even so, my next one will probably be an earlier teens. I really like the Liberty design on them.
That’s what I thought as well, not sure why I didn’t say so... the first Bustie should be special! Below a link to my 1819: https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinView.aspx?PeopleSetCoinID=2068913 PCGS VF-35, O-107 R3
Thanks for the tips, everyone. @Paddy54, that second half you posted is the "small-9" variety of the overdate, right? Mine appears to be the "large-9". I don't see any indication that either one is especially rare. I have a few other CB halves, but they're more worn than either of these. I'm not targeting "the perfect coin for me", just being opportunistic -- this pair was a bit under $80 shipped, and I think there's a good chance I could get more than that if I decide to toss them back into the market. I would like to have a showpiece example eventually, I suppose, but I might be more interested in working toward a CB quarter, since those seem much more scarce.
