If you are looking at say an 1832 Bust Quarter and the auction site says the coin is B-2 R-2, Or B-1 R-1; does anyone here know what they are referring to? Any information appreciated. James
Stands for (Ard W.) B(rowning, an early, if maybe not the earliest, attempt to identify the Bust Quarters by die marriage. The B number refers to a specific marriage of a unique obverse die with a unique reverse die. For example, your 1832 B-2 is composed of Obverse Die 1 and Reverse Die E. The Browning number is still used today, many decades after it was first introduced. The "R" number refers to the Sheldon rarity scale. An awkward but pretty universally referenced rarity scale. It starts at R-1 ("Common"), more than 1251 known and goes to R-8, ("Unique" or "Nearly Unique"), 1 to 3 known. Later numismatists have included an R-9 to mean completely unique, as in only one known, although people differ in their usage and terminology for R-9.In between R-1 and R-8, your B-2, R-2 has a rarity sometimes referred to as "Uncommon", meaning 501 to 1250 known. Note that rarity has nothing to do with the number minted, it is strictly the number known to exist today. For R-1, I've referenced the definition used in Tompkins, not the original Sheldon value of 1000. For R-2 I've referenced Tompkins nomenclature. Sheldon calls is "Fairly Common". Pick your poison, they all mean about the same thing. Generally speaking, any coin that is R-4 or more common should not demand a premium although there are exceptions. You need to be a specialist in order to know what's what. Two coins with the same grade and the same B number might have wildly different values in the marketplace because of die state, cuds, or other factors unique to specialty collectors. Probably the most used reference for bust quarters is Early United States Quarters, 1796-1838 by Steve M. Tompkins, c2008.
Thanks for the reply. Had the name Bechtler stuck in my head; no wonder my search was less than successful. james
