Hey gang! I picked this piece up this afternoon. I don't have the book for identifying the die pars of these. I see it's the "STATES UNITED" with the 4 cinquefoils. Can anyone identify the die pairing and the rarity for me? Thanks in advance. Matt
Nice looking piece! 8-X looks right. The 8-X always shows the large die break at 6 o'clock on the obverse and is the only variety that has this unique feature. I have only seen one example with no evidence of the break. Ive also seen one that the die break extends all the way up the entire obverse to 12 o'clock through the sun face!
Thanks guys!! I figured someone here would know. Am I out of line grading this piece as a fine+ possibly even a 20? I know these are a little different to grade then normal US coins because of the planchet problems and poor striking techniques.
Actually, you are really undergrading it. It is XF40-XF45 for a Fugio. You can usually tell by the sundial numerals. If you have them all showing, in most cases you are talking about an XF coin for the better struck varieties (the 8-X being a variety that was well struck when it was originally made). It is a nice piece!
As another quick note, the sunrays and face of the the sun are usually weakly struck on this variety so that is why it looks weak at 12 o'clock. Each variety in the series (over 60 different die varieties) has different strike characteristics.
I have to agree with nerarities that it's more like XF. Very nice coin. FYI, Newman mentions that 189 of the 1,651 (if I remember right) fugios remaining in the Bank of New York hoard are of this variety. So, while it's not a truly rare variety, there may not be as many of them still "in the wild" as the R3 rating suggests.
