Thanks to all who commented on my thread about whether to buy this coin or not. I scrounged together $45 and bought it earlier today. Let me know what you think. And also if anybody else sees an "S" to the left of the "O" let me know b/c I think I'm just seeing things. Thanks, Tyler http://s742.photobucket.com/albums/xx70/tylerpenland/1861-O Half/
Its just one coin. Different pictures though. Didn't realize I had them in a reverse/obverse/reverse/obverse order.
The lighting is poor in the area of the mintmark. Can you add another lamp or move the lamp (or rotate the coin) so that area of the coin is better lit? Also, the coin is tilted in your photos. This causes the near and far portions of the coin to be out of focus. If you shoot the coin straight on and focus it properly the entire coin should be in focus.
Looks good, though I think it might have had a light cleaning a long while ago, but it looks good now; as for the S I don't really see anything next to the mintmark. Also is that a dark spot over the eagle's head or something environmental? Nice coin either way.
I'll try that tomorrow. Too tired right now. And that dark spot is on the coin. Its not as noticable in person but its still distracting. Its my first seated half though. I'll upgrade later when I am out of college and can afford it.
:drool: Gorgeous circulation cameo there. Edit: Being a Civil War coin, I would have expected a bit higher price. There are Franklin halves that bring that kind of money...
Haha yeah it does. Beautiful. Its also got some golden toning (my favorite) that my camera refuses to show. Its not astounding by any means but just enough to notice.
$45, shoot I'd by seated halves like that all day long for that price. I just bought a MS 1861 and it cost me an arm and a leg, that 61 O looks to be either high VF low XF which would still make it a $95-$125 coin. Well done I'd say.
After doing plenty of research and looking at this coin through a loupe, I have determined that it is an early die state of the WB-104 variety ("speared" variety). The full spears aren't completely there but there are small die cracks all over that area. The "real" variety ranks as an R3 in this grade. This means that, just as I had hoped, it was minted by the Confederacy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is what I was really hoping for with this coin. The Civil War is one of my favorite time periods to study and now I have a cool piece of history from that area. Just thought I'd share this with y'all since I'm ecstatic (sp?). I plan on doing a lot of research on these coins (1861-O's) and I'll probably post all my findings and history on these (mostly history cause I love history). Thanks, Tyler P.S. I'm working on getting those pics for you Hobo. Not having too much success with my camera and/or lighting. EDIT: Forgot to put a link to the known varieties: http://www.stellacoinnews.com/index.php/seated-half-dollars-1861-o/
