A friend asked me to go through some of her coins to see if any were valuable. There are quite a few coins, and I may be asking for advice from you guys again. The bulk of her stuff was common spenders, but she had a couple of rolls of Delaware quarters, among which I found 7 spitting horses in various die states. Is there any market for these? Here is a sample:
Most definitely these are sought after, it takes a lot of scholastic research to find their value, because it will differ by buyer. It’s a continuation of the old paradigm: The value of these will wax and wane depending on how badly a buyer wants one.
I don’t know how sought after they are but I have a few of them, all of which I found in change. It’s a popular die error that will be worth a little bit more but I can’t say how much as it’s what a collector is willing to pay.
Back when I used to hunt through coins, I pulled out a bunch of them. After not even being able to get a dollar out of them on eBay, I eventually spent them all again. They are neat, but very common IMO.
Thanks for the different views! I know they were sought after at one time, but how rare can they be when I found seven of them going through my friend's 100 or so coins? I also find it interesting that there are that many of them out there. How long can a single cracked die keep working? Or perhaps, how many dies would have made that same crack, even given it is a weak point in the design?
Just now looking at some on ebay, and there are definitely at least two different dies involved. In some, the "spit" glances off the C, if it gets that far. In a few, as the one in this post, the "spit" glances off the A and continues to hit the R and, depending on the die state, it continues to the rim from there. In strong examples, such as the one I show, it also extends above the horse's head.
Well, I haven't dedicated any specific time to searching for one, but I've never found one, when i did think to look, lol. But, I have been bit by a horse, kicked by a horse and thrown from a horse. Does any of that count?
There are three guys in my local club who were born in Delaware, including me. Only of them is really into Delaware stuff. I am rather into it, but not on his level. I would not go crazy looking for a "spitting horse." I was happy to find this. It's that large silver medal which was issued during the 1938 Delaware Tercentury celebration. The most famous piece from this celebration is the Delaware Commemorative Half Dollar. The issue price on this piece was $7.50, which was a lot of money to lay out for a medal in 1938, just after the Great Depression and another recession in 1937. The late Terry Bryan, who was known as "Mr. Delaware," told me that he knew of only one other example. I spotted this in a Stacks-Bowers auction and put a "nuclear bid" on it. It's the only one I have seen. Those who collect So-Called Dollars might find this interesting. It's the small verson of this medal in bronze. I bought this piece for 50 cents in the spring of 1960 when I was on my 5th grade Delaware school field trip. It was just before I became a collector.
