Good morning! This half cent is on its way to me from an overseas auction and I was hoping to get some insight into the Newcomb variety. I don’t have access to the book or I would try it myself. I’m not even sure if there are rarer varieties of this particular year which carry a premium. Anyhow, any input would be appreciated!
Half cents are attributed with Cohen varieties (Newcomb varieties are for the middle and late date large cents). There appears to be only one die marriage for 1853, so is Cohen-1 by default. https://www.ngccoin.com/variety-plus/united-states/half-cents/braided-hair-half-cents-1840-1857/
Probably in the AU range. The color of the obverse seems a little bit off to me, so it may have been cleaned or could have sustained light environmental damage. It’s still a nice coin, though!
Probably AU55. The spots are probably some a dealer in England handling the coin and talking to someone while eating a tuna sandwich. (Not exactly, but Jerry Bobbe talks about how he experienced a dealer there showing him Conder tokens once.)
The sharpness is in the AU range, but the spots and possible cleaning take it down to EF-40 from the pricing perspective. There is only die Cohen die variety for this year. These coins did not circulate very much, and high grades are the norm. It's rare to see one below EF from "honest wear." I bought this one in the mid 1960s from the coin counter at Gimbels Dempartment store in Philadelphia. They graded it VF. Today it's in an MS-62 holder!