I collect the Capped Bust Half Dime series, 1829 to 1837 by die marriage. This is a fun series to collect and collection options can be chosen to fit any desire and budget. A date set only comprises 9 coins, none of which are rare and nice slabbed XF examples can be had for less than $200. A Red Book set consists of just 16 coins, none rare but you'll have fun trying to get them all. It's a big jump to collect this series by die marriage and remarriage with a fair number of rare examples that are pricey even in low grade. I have recently branched out to collect die state examples. What is a die state? For each obverse or reverse die, the condition or state of the die displays deterioration during its use that show up on the coins as die chips, die cracks, and in some cases as retained or full cuds. The definition of when a die is an early, middle or late die state can be a matter of some academic debate among specialist collectors, so be aware that the determinations presented herein are solely my opinion. The most common cud is the 1832 LM-5, Reverse R retained cud that transects the TED STA of UNITED STATES and involves the E PLURIBUS UNUM scroll. Even though the LM-5 is a common R-1 coin, Richard Meaney calls the Late Die State (LDS) an R-3 (JRCS Journal, Feb, 2011). This is still the most common of the cuds among this series, thus the easiest to collect. Note that the 1832 LM-5 is the second use of Reverse R. The first use was 1832 LM-4 during which the upper loop of S2 of STATES fills. BTW, if anyone has seen a significantly more advanced example of this retained cud, I would appreciate a photo or link. Enough palaver! This is Coin Talk and a post is nothing without photographs. I am presenting this in reverse chronological order simply because it's easier to see what isn't there after you've seen what it will become. The first three photos are the obverse and reverse of the coins. The next three present the Late Die State, Middle Die State and Early Die state of the retained cud. I hope you enjoy this die deterioration study.
@Publius2 I sent you some info directly. You really hit on some of the attraction of the capped bust half dimes. You can dip your toes in, or you can really jump in the deep end!
