Half dime ( is 1837- 1859). Looks like a die crack in SE between I and C. Possibly a struck though or a pre cud.
Oh right it's Friday night.......time for a little nip, and some coin porn......something in a woodie perhasp.......
Notice all coins pictured here are over 21 y/o . We suggests that YN's under 21 to please reframe from staring directly at the coin. And yes it can make you go blind.
Well here the seller images..... this is one of the series best varieties in my opinion. One of the many varieties found in this series. As a variety collector one must deciede if collecting an entire collection from year 1 through the ending year. Or....just collect the varieties. As a variety collector I mainly target series that feed my needs.... IHC, Buffalo nickels, shield nickels,half dimes etc....as the series listed do have quite a few varieties. So yes I am working on finishing this series by date as well variety. I like to thank John for working with me as he has done in the past with making purchases. I would strongly suggest to new members as well as others to buy from and support the dealers here who have always been fair , and also support this forum. By doing so you you'll have little to no worries about your purchases, plus you always can tap them for the knowlege they share. So to unveil my newest addition and subtraction 1 more off my list that now becomes smaller but more expensive. But the hunt never stops....even for those trophies that have been captured. To obtain the best specimens available for the Paddy collection. This is due to hit my mail box this morning! I can hardly wait to have her in hand. FS-901 rusted reverse die 1838 ,even though this years mintages are high for this series. This variety is still well sought after. To be able to obtain specimen in Au. Makes me very happy!
I also aquired this Au. 1856 o V-7 Breen 3081, mintage of 1,100,000 ,another sleeper in this series in higher grades. Plus its another rpd variety rpd- 001 to add to the collection. So I'm one happy camper to add two sweet specimens as such.
Here are my images...the 1838 half dime e corroded reverse , it unusual for 19th century dies to have rust issues,however in 1838 there were issues found on both obv. And rev. dies. This specimen is clearly stage 1 of a 4 stage process of this die breaking down. That could create a variety collector to search for the other 3 stages of the die wear. The 1838 reverse #4 was paired with obv.#3 which equals the < V-6 > and shows no corrosion. Now again remember mintage 2,225,000 now it is unfortunate that there's no records of the number of working dies pairs for this year 1838. Later years in the series better records were kept. However even after 1851 in Philly as well New Orleans, and San Francisco the records were still not up to date and some years again no records kept. I imagine after studying this series and do the die marriages one could come up with the data needed to have a count on all dies used. One needs to examine the mintage as well the amount of coins dated 1838 still survive, as to the odds of finding and obtaining all 4 stages of this variety. However mint state examples do exist. Here is an stage 1 example of the fs-901 in MS 65 priced at $2750.
1838 - good year for coins, bad year for the economy. Martin Van Buren's presidency was ruined by the Panic of 1837, which some blamed on Andrew Jackson's Bank policies. The stories I've read have been brutal: mass poverty, starvation and violence for a number of years. Then the Whigs swept the 1840 election and Van Buren never held office again. But fate waved a hand again and William Henry Harrison, the new Whig president, died after only 31 days in office, leading to the first "accidental" president, John Tyler, who vetoed enough Whig bills to get him literally thrown out of the party. That beautiful little coin has seen a lot of action.
