https://www.davidkahnrarecoins.com/...-reeded-edge-gr-8-50c-ngc-ms61-110937831.html Does this look like a tooled bust half?
Can I ask a few questions ? Who would have the precision tools to pull that off ? I mean doesn't it require a very skilled person also ? @Treashunt or anyone that knows . Thanks
It seems that the large letter 39's had great detail when fully struck. I don't see anything that leads me to think tooled.
I don't rightly know, can't say that I've seen very many in mint state (none) to have an opinion on it one way or the other. Dick Graham wrote the book on the die varieties of capped bust half dollars with reeded edge 1836-1839. it and the rest of them have a pretty solid provenance. I'd assume not tooled, and just not used to seeing nicer examples of varieties because I'm in that boat also. Gobrecht modified the design in 1936 with a lot of work on lady liberty, Also from late 1836 they were doing these on the steam press that they just got at the mint, a transition year, there no more screw pressing. the 1836-1839 series, in my opinion, can't really be compared to the earlier dates, it's similar in appearance, but different method of manufacture, and an updated design for these last 5 issues. these guys stand alone: 1836, lettered edge (old design, screw press) then, 1836, reeded edge (new design, steam press) 1837 1838 1839 1839-O Possible you are thinking tooled due to the redesign and the new press, and higher quality overall than the earlier years, even the lettered edge 1836s?
No. If you knew Kahn, you would understand my opinion. Yes. There is a fellow in the Chicago, area, I hear. Why it would be done on a piece with that strike, and a piece that Khan has seen and it has not been questioned, would be a head scratcher.
there is that, but I have been told that tooling was very comon on these coins in early years, and providence doesn't guarantee that they were not tooled, because it was commonly done by the expert collectors themselves. I was told this is an expected part of high end bust examples and unless it is servere, it is not called on in grading. Sounds like cleaning and toning. I am looking at the eyes and the hair and it seems distinctly different. Maybe it is design and technology. There are three on that vendors site, all with the same providence, and all look the same to me.
You can compare it with its 1838 dated sister. This coin is graded MS-62. I don't think that the hair detail has been tooled. Here's an 1837 that is graded MS-64.
I am not sure exactly the point being made, but these two clearly seem to have different designs, at least to my eye Is the '39 more like the '38? Can one tell if the coin was tooled in this fashion? AND BTW - we are talking about an old tooling, not a recent one.
The 1837 is graded MS-64. The 1838 is graded MS-62 and a bit of a slider. The 1837 was struck with a different reverse than the 1838. The 1837 reverse is less less distinct around the rims than the 1838, but I don’t know how that effects the sharpness of the obverse. I don’t see tooling in the OP post. You can reject that, but usually the restored hair detail is different from the die struck detail. You get detail, but I don’t know how you get the rounded detail on stored detail.
I don't reject it. I am ignorant on the matter. I think the 37 and the38 that you posted, however, have different obverses The front locks are different and the eyes are different, especially the pupils.
