Who Ya Gonna Believe...PCGS or Your Lyin' Eyes? 1835 Half Dime

Can you explain your monument points, landmarks and ect used in your metrological attribution process for half dimes.

 

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One day a new publication will come out for the Bust Dimes and Half Dimes of the same quality - large sharp images - as has been done for the Bust Quarter Series. Until then, many attributions take more time than they should.

 

For the Capped Bust Half Dimes (1829-1837), I use the Logan-McCloskey book published in 1998, supplemented by a website of more recent vintage:

Attribute My Half-Dime - Capped Bust Half Dimes (archive.org)

As to how I go about it, here it is step-by-step followed by photos of the process and documentation.

1) I take hi-res photos and then carefully crop the obverse and reverse using my editing software, PhotoScapeX.
2) On the reverse, locate the center of the image. Note that PhotoScapeX has a feature that will locate the center of image by showing an intersecting pair of lines when the cursor is at the center of the IMAGE, not the coin. That is why a careful cropping is required.
3) Draw lines from the center to the start of the banner to the area of T1E1 of the legend. Do the same from the center to the end of the banner to the area of M in the legend. See which reverses these locations correspond to.
4) Draw a line from the center to where the E2 or S2 lines up over the S in the banner. These three markers will usually be sufficient to completely identify the reverse.
5) I also draw lines from the center to the tip of feather and on to the 5. Also from the center to the tip of the stem and on the C2. The points of intersection with the 5 and C2 should match up to the reverse die identified in steps 3 and 4.
6) Draw a line center to the center of the period after C2 and on to the dentils. This sometimes won't work with worn coins or coins with very weak dentils,
7) Compare specifics of known markers in the legend such as one letter being higher or lower than its neighbor, re-punched letters, crumbling letters and the like.
8) Sometimes there are unique die markers in the shield that can be used. For example, for 1829 there are some dies where the shield has two pale gules (the vertical lines) and some with three.
9) Finally, I note any die cracks, bulges, clashes, chips and etc. that are sometimes diagnostic for the reverse die and otherwise are used to determine the die state.
10) On the obverse, the pickup points are usually determined by the relationship of the date digits to the dentils and to each other.
11) Stars 1, 7, 8 and 13 are used in relation to the proximity to the dentils and respectively the bust, the headband, the cap, and the hair.
12) Stars are located in relation to each other, i.e., closer or farther apart.
13) Stars are sometimes called as being rotated clockwise or counterclockwise and also with relation to the line drawn from points to the dentils and where that line intersects the dentils.
14) Die state determinants are the same as used for the reverse.

Now, I go through all of these things and typically will photographically and textually document the coin in relation to these characteristics. But in reality, it usually only takes me a couple of minutes to attribute a die marriage and the rest of the time is devoted to just confirmation and documentation.

 

I love my Tompkins book on the Early Quarters, but I don't collect those series except by type so it's more artwork than reference for me.

As for the dimes, there is a very nice little booklet that is easy to use and has good color pictures:

Bust Dime Variety Identification Guide by Winston Zack, Louis Scuderi, and Michael Sherrill, C2015, 130 pages, spiral-bound, 5" x 8". I take it to coin shows with me. Much more convenient than the hardbound LM book on half dimes. I would post a typical picture of what it shows but that would probably violate a copyright.

Yes, I would really like to have bigger and color photos of the Bust Half Dimes especially for die state and die remarriage attribution purposes.