I recently received this 1835 half cent and it’s almost unbelievable how detailed this thing is and to feel all of its original ridges and grooves. BUT.. when I’m excited about a coin I know where to go to get set straight... this place! What do you guys think about this piece it looks pretty uncirculated to me and may be worth grading out? I know these older cents go for a lot less then what they would be worth if they were graded I see it a lot and I’ve seen a lot of my AU+ cents go for well under 100$. I also noticed that this coin looks to be doubled punched on the 5 and also some of the lettering on the reverse. I was told that this is the C-2 variety as well. I know next to nothing about the older copper coins and have been learning a lot recently because I do tend to sell quite a bit and would like to know how to sell these guys and what to look for. Thank you!
Your 1835 half cent is the C-2 variety. In 1835, one obverse was paired with two reverses. Your coin is Reverse A as shown by the ST close at top. I have circled this on a markup of your photo. I have also noted what appear to be some clashes. The doubling of HALF CENT is not really diagnostic for the variety but is common and is not an error. The RPD on the date is not really noted since there is only one obverse die for this date. Overall a nice coin that I would call an AU-53 and the TPGs would probably call 55. For comparison, I have posted my 1835 C-1 slabbed NGC AU-58 so you can see the differences in the reverses and also the grade differences.
Half cents from this era usually come in fairly high grades. It’s rare to see one in less than Choice VF unless it’s damaged. By this time the public didn’t have much use for half cents, and they did not circulate will. I think that your piece was dipped at one time and has recovered some color. Whether or not it’s the kind of color that will get it into a straight graded holder is a question. When I was getting my collection graded, about 20 years ago, I got hammered with no-grades, most of them undeserved. Here is the 1835 half cent that is in my collection. This used to be my higher grade type coin. Now I have a couple of others that have higher grades, if they are not really better. NGC short changed me on this one with an MS-63, Brown grade. I think that it is an easy MS-64. The lines you see on the reverse are on the holder. This one is a Cohen variety #1, but both varieties for the year are common.
