I recently acquired a half cent which is either a 1795 or 1796 no pole, the coin has a lot of corrosion and I cannot make out the date. I have used a 10x loop and 30x magnifier the most I can find is the 7 and either the tip of the 5 or 6. Does anyone know of an identifier on these coins that would separate one from the other. Thanks for your help.
There are several, but since I have no idea what if anything is visible on your coin I wouldn't know where to start. (There are six varieties of 1795 and two of 1796. Both 96's share the same rev.) Is it with or without a pole? Do the terminal leaves at the top of the wreath point DIRECTLY at each other or does the left leaf point a little above the right leaf? If you can't see the date how do you know it is a 95 or 96 and not a 94 or 97?
OK that helps a lot. The 96 no pole always has a heavy horizontal bisecting crack on the obv. On the rev 95 C-6 AMERICA is right down against the points of the leaves with a point of leaf between ME ( on 96 C-1 it is below the left upright of the M), below the center if I (on 96 it is below the left edge of the left foot), and below the center of the left base of the A (on 96 it is almost to the C) On the 96 AMERICA is almost half a letters height away from the points of the leaves.
ok here are some pics of the coin trying to determine if this is a 1795 or 1796 without pole half cent. I included 4 pics of the front and 4 pics of the reverse at different angles. thanks for the help
