Here's an 1837 Reeded Edge CBH I got for my Type set at the Anaheim ANA show. It's in an OGH PCGS MS62 slab. The images are by Bob Campbell, and I think he did an excellent job.
I've a soft spot in my heart for Reeded Edge Bust Halves. There was apparently a steep learning curve for the new steam-driven presses, resulting in a short series which abounds in varieties characterized by every type of die crack and break imaginable. These are fully codified, as well, which makes for enjoyable attribution (and what's more fun than attributing varieties? ). In addition, they are to be found with wonderful color, a plus in anyone's book. Unless I'm mistaken, yours is GR-12 in a middling die state. It's an obverse shared with the much scarcer GR-11, although the reverse die cracks (if developed) are sufficiently unlike each other to clearly differentiate the varieties. Here, I believe, is a previous transaction of the same coin, last August: https://coins.ha.com/itm/reeded-edg...8-4718.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515
Well-bought, then. I think your coin clearly superior to the two MS63's in Heritage's archive, the one for its' much weaker reverse strike and the other for the very prominent obverse marks. If yours is a 62, that latter is no better than 61.
Thank you! I spent a chunk of time browsing the CBH Heritage lot boxes at the ANA show, and this coin clearly stood out. IMO it's better than a 62, although I'm not a CBH collector per se, so I don't know the nuances for grade for the series. In any case, I was particularly happy to win it for the price I got it at.
I'm hardly an expert but I've looked at a bunch of them over the years since I enjoy attributing them when they appear in these pages. Although I could see yours in a 63 slab, I suspect between a fair number of minor (away from focal areas) marks and relatively dark color, the coin was "penalized" with the grade. Of the two 63's at Heritage, the one plainly does not deserve the grade, and the other has "business" in the fields yours does not show albeit vanishingly-few marks in the devices.
