when going to a coin shop i hadnt seen yet about 25 miles away i asked about the usual stuff. i saw a few nice coins but nothing i really wanted until i asked about morgans. he pulled out a sleeve that had a little of everything. altho some of they morgans were nice they mostly werent in my price range but the first coin i saw on the left side was. since it looked like they had it for a while i managed to get it for $50. its not great but i think it really fits my collection. it was really hard to get a fair pic of it but you can see the liberty. i believe its a lettered edge but i cant actually make out any words on the edge. a few small pits otherwise i really like it. any comments - opinions appreciated.
Nice. Don't know a whole lot about half cents, but curious if it could be attributed enough to determine the date.
Well you're in luck since there are only 4 possible dates, 1794, 1795, 1796 or 1797. It's probably not a high relief head as flat as yours is. The edge comes in Lettered (Small and Large) , plain and gripped and a shot of the edge would help. I suspect it says Two Hundred For A Dollar if you see lettering. 1794 isn't likely since the cap is distant from the rim. I think there is enough detail to eliminate many possibilities. BTW, did you flip the coin 180 which would indicate a rotated reverse? Take pictures from different angles and we might be able to zero in on an attribution.
With the phrase "Liberty Cap Half Cent", I just had to dive in ! Notice how few threads feature this type of coin ? This is a notoriously difficult coin to track down. One of my favorites, BTW. Congrats, Matt !
Is it safe to assume that someone tried to figure out the date using some material (acid?) and that is why you see the most wear right where the date would be? I have never tried to bring out the date on a coin so this is just a thought.
the coin has the correct flip. im going to try and take some better pics in a little bit. you can see a few of the letters in half cent and america. its the bottom portion of the obverse (top of reverse) that is without details. they arent coming out better just different looking. i just dont think this is a coin where a pic can show you details.
based on the details i can see im going to say this has to be a 1795 cohen 6. http://www.coinfacts.com/half_cents/1795_half_cents/1795_half_cent_c06.htm it weights at 80.8 grains.
The close L eliminates the 1794s and 1797s. There might be signs of the shattering of the die across the bottom of the cap across the coin almost splitting it in half seen on the 1796 C-1. 80.8 grains makes it a thin planchet and less likely to have edge lettering, though not impossible. Comparison C-6 coin from Coinfacts The berry with the long stem above a leaf away from the wreath is only seen on the 1795 C-6, so it has to be it... except look at the fraction bar which is higher and the left stem which is shorter. .
the C-5 has as short a stem but the leaves dont match to N T I and between ED of UNITED. the 00 in 200 are not touching like they do in C-6 and the middle 0 should be lower. this pic also used from coinfacts. edit: and the leaf hanging under I in AMERICA.
The two key features I looked at were the point of the leaf below the N of UNITED and the Point of Leaf (POL) below ED. On the subject coin the POL below N is below the left upright. The POL below ED is just about centered between the letters and close to them. 1794 C-1,2, 8, and 9 all have a different style wreath. C-3 POL below U C-4 POL below U C-5 POL below left upright of N, POL about centered between ED but very distant from letters C-6 POL below right side of U C-7 POL below right side of U 1795 C-1 POL below U C-2 POL below U C-3 POL below right side of U C-4 POL below center of N C-5 POL below center of N C-6 POL below left upright of N POL about centered between ED and close to letters. 1796 C1 and C2 POL below left upright of H, POL below upright of D 1797 C-1 and C-2 POL below left upright of N, POL below center of D C-3 POL almost below RIGHT upright of N The only two that come close are 1794 C-5 and 1795 C-6. It can't be 94 C-5 because of the big distance away from the letters ED. By process of elimination, 1795 C-6.
i could only be so lucky to have a new reversed half cent. in any case the price was dirt cheap. EDIT: one of the other reasons i like buying these poor looking coins is i knew there would be enough detail to identify it.
