Capped Bust Half Experts Needed!

Hi. Bought this coin off eBay and the seller never posted any reverse pictures. I think, based on my Overton book and my (still limited) knowledge, that this is the famed Overton 114, Rarity 5 known as the Large Letters reverse.

I know, I know... how can you tell if it's a Large Letters without a reverse pic. Well, the answer lies in the die chip inside the top loop of the 3 digit. There are 4 obverse die pairings that have this chip. The 112 and 112a, the 113, and the 114 Large Letters. I have already eliminated the O-112 and O-112a due to the fact that star number 7 points to the top of the forehead curl on those two. And on this coin the star points to the center of the letter L in LIBERTY. So based on that I know I either have the O-113 or the O-114. Now, on the O-113, the stars are sharp and barely, if at all drawn to the edges. On my coin, the stars are all drawn heavily to the edges, which fits with the O-114, Large Letters variety. So I'm 95% sure I hit the jackpot, as this becomes a $3500 coin if it is indeed the O-114.

BUT, I would love other opinions from those in the know. I took a chance and bought it as soon as it was listed based on the obverse. If I'm wrong... oh well.... been there and done that a million times. But in any case, I'd like some other opinions. Here's the only pic I have to go on:

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Remember the stars start to draw to the edges as the die wears , so you could have regular stars when struck with a new die and elongated stars when the die is in its later stages .

 

BTW , nice Busty . What grade did PCGS give it ?

 

It's a VF25. And I do think you highlighted what could be my mistake in this case. However, on Heritage, I looked up a couple O-113's in VF, and the stars aren't drawn to the edge NEARLY as much as this one. Not even close. But, you could still be right...

 

@okbustchaser may have some insight.

 

@CBJesse may know as well.

 

The "large letter reverse" is an "eyeball" Red Book variety that PCGS attributes for the standard grading fee (ie, no extra fee for designation). As such, although such things do happen PCGS would seldom miss this attribution. I am, therefore, about 80-90 percent sure you have a late die stage 113.

The stars are all drawn to edge on late die stage 113s as well as 114s. Actually, 113s with this much die erosion are probably much rarer than 114s...just not worth anywhere near as much.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I'm wrong.

 

You have to pay the variety fee for the large letters reverse O114. I've owned 2 and they refused to recognize it unless I paid the attribution fees.

 

Sorry, but it is most likely a 113. There was no die chip on early die state 113's so you know that obverse had a lot of strikes on it.

Here is an example of a 113 with the Stars drawn like yours.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1830-Capped...852?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c2b0b5b54

Of course there is no way to tell for certain until you see the reverse.

 

This is a pretty convincing example against my case.

 

@Treashunt.......@jim M

 

@Jim M

 

I'd have done an at 'bonedigger' but he don't come 'round these parts no more. Pity.......such knowledge.

 

Nice coin.
There must be a reason seller didn't post the rev.
Hope you'll post it once it's in hand.

 

I will either way

 

This is a rather interesting issue. The Overton Book (3rd Edition) clearly gives "all stars sharp" as a characteristic of O-113, indicating that the die marriage was struck while Obverse 7 was still relatively new. A quick perusal through the Heritage archives quickly shows that not all O-113's display sharp stars. Rather, most display light to moderate obverse die wear. A few do show heavy die wear, but none so much as your example.

The example mikem2000 posted makes the case for O-114 a bit less definitive. But still, I believe your example is a later die state (yours shows date numerals "pulling" and has far fewer dentils present). I don't purport to be an expert on the minutiae of 1830 Half Dollar die states, but it appears that the die state on the "ebay example" is about as late as they come. To my eye, the obverse on your half is much more in line with wear present on 1830 Large Letters. I'm optimistic for you... it is going to be very nerve racking to unwrap that package.

One more thing: I don't believe PCGS designates all Large Letters regardless of whether the customer has requested it. There are at least two O-114's graded by PCGS on Heritage that specify "Small 0", with no mention of the far more important attribute. Here are the links:

Sold @ 2011 FUN Sale, Cleaned:
http://coins.ha.com/itm/bust-half-d...s-small-0-genuine-pcgs-o-114-r5/a/1151-3739.s

Sold 10/13/2011 Signature Auction, VF-35:
http://coins.ha.com/itm/bust-half-d...arge-letters-vf35-pcgs-o-114-r5/a/1160-3695.s

Best of luck C-B-D, I'm looking forward to the update.

Jesse

 

Awesome post. Thank you. I think in order to not have a nervous breakdown, I'm gonna tell myself it's probably NOT the large letters, but there's a very slight chance that it is.

 

You beat me to it Ken , as I was going to @ Frank and Jim , and was thinking of Ben . Guess great minds think alike .

 

CBD. I believe you have struck gold and here is why. The O-113 was struck early in 1830 and ran about half way through the year. The die break you are seeing in the 3 developed late in the run which would account for the stars. However.. Once the dies were changed for the reverse die. O-114 the die break developed a notch which I see when your picture is blown up. I think its a O-114 based on this picture and for that reason alone. If its not a 114 its certainly a VERY late Die state O-113 but certainly worth the gamble on your side. Of course I would also put some stock into who was selling it I guess.. was it a known CBD person? Saying this because they might have done the no reverse picture on purpose to make the sale. : )

There is my take on it.

 

The seller is not a cbh person. I have cherrypicked then before (18.11 sold as a regular 1811, etc). He just lost the pics in his system. He sells massive amounts of coins, so a bunch of coins he listed that day lost their reverse pic.