Be aware...Bust half fever is REAL...and there is no known cure. Edit to add: Although the book you got is considered the "Bible" to bust half collectors The Ultimate Guide To Attributing Bust Half Dollars - by Glenn R. Peterson (if you can find a copy) is easier for many collectors to use.
Trying to decipher some of the non documented abbreviations is one thing driving me nuts. Anybody know what "A-A" stands for? It seems to be associated with the reverse descriptions. Last 'A' in America to arrow distance would be my guess. A-A is usually followed by a small distance, like 0.25mm. Z
Congrats on the buy, those bust halves look very nice too. I believe there is an online reference for bust varieties as well but it's harder to use as opposed to the book(s).
Yes, last A in America to top arrow. You would be amazed at the number of people who do exactly that. I told you it was a sickness,
Yes, bust half fever is very real, I've got it. I missed out on an 1807 on eBay yesterday, i was busy at work when the auction ended. I'm kind of sad about it.
You wouldn't believe where I got most of those halves. None of those came to me through a family hairloom boxes. I used to frequent those massive swap meets they hold in central Florida. Hundreds, if not a few thousand old timers and junk sellers used to converge on little two stop light towns for Monday through Wednesday sales. They would swap amongst themselves, then head back to wherever their favorite weekend spots were. Most of these mid week meets allowed these hardened sellers to rotate their stock a little. I cherry picked most of those for under $45. Some as low as $15. None of these folks were seasoned numistmatists. These weren't Morgan or Peace Dollars, so were of little interest. A couple I found in foreign coin junk boxes. Found lots of foreign silver back in the day. My favorites were high condition Philippines American minted coins. Anyway, thanks for letting me reminisce.
There is or used to be a member here who went by the name Bonedigger..I don't know if he's still around or not but he could help you.
Although it wasn't on Ebay I did pick up an 1807 yesterday... Even with the digs and scratches on the obverse (which PCGS felt were ok with them as they straight graded it) for the price I paid for this Bearded Goddess I'm a happy camper.
Yes, Ben was quite the bust nut. He was the owner of the Blue Collar Bust Half Collection. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/blue-collar-bust-half-dollar-collection.35401/ ...a collection qualifying him for membership in the Bust Half Nut Club for an average price of around 100 bucks a coin--including the 1815. Sadly he hasn't posted here since 2008.
I just recently bought an edition of this book, and I'm having problems following it. I keep turning back to the Overton book. Guess I just need to work with it for longer?