I've been looking very closely at this one, and am convinced I have it...really. I have gone through the entire Overton book and it's definitely an 1827 since no other variety from any other year is even close. There are a few other 1827's that are similar, but nothing lines up as a perfect match except the 148, unless I'm missing something. Notice the following points in comparison with the pics of the known F12 example also pictured: 1. Stars 6 and 7 align in the same way with the dentils. 2. Stars 4-5 are slightly closer than 5-6 and 6-7 3. Stars 7 (pointing high), 8 and 13 seem to be spaced/positioned relatively correctly. 4. Notice the left side of the scroll relative to the D above (you can make it out if you try). 5. Notice the right side of the scroll intersecting slightly right of center on the base of the M above. 6. Look very closely and you may see a faint evidence of the dot above the beak. I look under magnification and can almost see something if I concentrate but can't be too sure. Nevertheless some known 148's are missing the dot entirely even in better grades, and certainly a weak dot could be worn off. This proves nothing either way. 7. The bottom 3 pics are a 2-image overlay (blend) that I did with a known VF35 and the 50c position and spacing seems an exact match. Anyone have any thoughts?
One thing I noticed is how narrow the second vertical shield stripe (gule) from the left is compared to the others. Evidently this reverse was used to strike 1827 O-143 and 1827 O-148. The obverse of O-143 does not match your coin, but the obverse of O-148 seems to match. Unless there is another reverse with the narrow second gule (and that matches all of the other things you pointed out), I would be fairly optimistic that it’s O-148. That said, @okbustchaser should be able to provide a more definitive answer. http://maibockaddict.com/1827-o-143-r3-capped-bust-half-dollar http://maibockaddict.com/1827-o-148-r6-capped-bust-half-dollar
Very interesting, I had not even noticed that. I have just checked all of the other 148's in Coinfacts, and they're the same as well. I went through all of 1827's again and no others that are even close to the same have this feature you mentioned as far as I can tell. Thanks for pointing that out............ This is what's being mentioned, just to be sure (circled in white).