Has anyone seen this 1877-P half with a large reverse die break?

I recently purchased a 77-P with a large die break from (STATE)S through the motto and down the right wing to the tip. The reverse also has fine, lengthy die breaks around the periphery of the coin in the lettering, arrowheads, denomination, olive leaves and back through the middle or top of the lettering. The obverse shows a fine die crack from star 1 through 13, including Liberty's head and cap. It's pretty cracked up.

 

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Yes, nice coin and die breaks. No, I haven't seen it.
Thanks for sharing though!

 

Nice looking and I love those die cracks. That coin has beauty and character.

 

I suppose you could look through the 1800+ examples on Heritage. I poked around and didn't find another one, but didn't look very hard and I suspect that die didn't last long. I did find others with similar thin cracks U to H.

 

Good suggestion! I have so far contacted SLH experts, several major seated coin dealers, and collectors on coin message boards to see if they have seen or know of this 1877 with a large die break. Bill Bugert has no record of it in his notes. The dealers haven't seen it, LSCC officers came up blank on the coin, and now you've "poked around," didn't see it, but noticed other H to U die breaks. I'll definitely hit Heritage tonight and start taking notes. It would be great to identify another coin from this reverse die and see die progression and perhaps even new DM (or two).

Thanks for hunting at Heritage a bit. I would have gotten around to it eventually but was an excellent, timely suggestion regarding this discovery. It'll be fun searching and taking notes on 77 DMs.

 

I noted that the 1 in your date is far left of the shield tip, centered over a denticle. Not many on Heritage with that. Might help narrow down another one with a different reverse die state. Some odd things noted below. I'm sure a real expert knows more.

Same die crack U-H but not the same obverse? (same coin sold twice)
https://coins.ha.com/itm/seated-hal...132237-23422.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515#

Obverse crack all the way around but not the same rev die crack? Yours has the same "hole" in the obv center as this one, but in a different position? What's up with this circular hole? On this one it's dead center but on yours it's to the left. PMD?
https://coins.ha.com/itm/seated-hal.../63184-45304.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515#

"Unlisted repunched 8"
https://coins.ha.com/itm/seated-hal...132334-27246.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515#

I enjoy a treasure hunt but that's all I have patience for today...

 

There are a lot of undescribed DMs out there for the 77-P. Very few have been described. BB hasn't gotten to them yet. I asked if he wanted to be a coauthor on a description of this die state and likely new DM orbe a referee. He said go ahead and he'd review it. He can always apply his own treatment with the next volume.

Thanks for the links. I'll check them out later. I'm celebrating a bit tonight, and I just purchased a 77-S WB-38. All of a sudden, I'm going nuts on 1877 SLHs, buying up four of them in the past two weeks.

 

You obviously know way more about these than me. I just see something and go dig around. When you get back to it I'm curious about that circle divot near the center of yours and the other one.

 

This is new territory for me and it's relatively unexplored. I usually search other dates for rare or new DMs. 74-77 Philly halves have been recorded but are unpublished at the moment.

The first (my) coin has a nick on the thigh. The other coin has a centering dot.