The half cent obsession continues with an 1835 Classic Head C-2 with close "ST" on the reverse. Reported mintage of 398,000, but some research suggests an actual mintage closer to 330,000. Eckberg's estimated survivors number 4,200. Unfortunately, the slab was so scuffed up I had to get creative with the lighting to make the coin show up fully, which sacrificed a little surface detail on the obverse. The details are actually much sharper than pictured, especially on the obverse. NGC AU 50 BN with Green CAC bean
It amazes me how many genuine examples of most half cents are affordably available. Your coin has a smaller mintage than the 1909S VDB...and fewer survivors (if PCGS/NGC population reports can be used as a guide). No love for the "little sisters".
Half cents provide the perfect example of how demand outranks supply in the coin market. They are genuinely rare coins, but they remain pretty affordable. The 1835 above cost around $200. Had I bought an equivalent 1909-S VDB Lincoln, with a mintage of some 100,000 more, I would have had to spend at least $1,100 or possibly face a bidding war, etc. People want to complete their Lincoln cent sets, but few people apparently want to collect half cents. It makes some sense, because a full collection of half cents would cost thousands upon thousands of dollars. I'll likely never have a 1793, unless someone gives me one (any takers?), or a 1796, or an 1802, or an 1811 or even a few other very high priced dates (not to mention the costly proofs). Filling that set requires more than a small fortune, whereas more people could feasibly complete a Lincoln set. Plus, looking at the 2019 versus the 2022 Redbooks, the values of the Braided Hair half cents seem to have decreased pretty substantially, even though many have reported mintages in the 30,000s to the 50,000s. People apparently don't want these coins very much and their values reflect that. Rarity doesn't always necessitate high prices for collectibles. People have to want them. I can only conclude that few people want half cents.
I completed the Braided Hair Half Cent series, 1849-1857 a couple of years ago but I have been looking for an upgrade to the 1857. Interestingly, there aren't many around and those I have seen are not attractive regardless of the grade. I agree that these coins are highly under-rated but most people would rather collect something else, I guess.
One of the big problems with the half cent series is that there are big holes in forming a date run of them. There are little holes, like the 1798 and 1799 and larger holes like 1812 to 1824. The killer is the 1840 to 1848 hole when there are Proof coins available which are virtually unobtainable. Many collectors look at that and say, "never mind." One part of the half cent set that gets little collector interest are the coins from 1849 to 1857. The 1852 is a Proof only date, but the rest are collectible. Dealers will tell you that they are slow sellers.
I have understood that finding the 1857 with mint red is difficult. Is that what you are having trouble finding. I've had this one for many years.
FIRST, I do NOT collect proofs. That makes collecting some sets MUCH easier. I have a full Cohen-variety set of Classic Head half cents. I have a full Red Book set of Braided Hair half cents. Now I'm picking away at a Red Book Draped Bust half cent set. Not surprisingly one of the 1802 varieties will be ignored.
I had one chance to own an 1802 C-1, "old reverse" half cent. A dealer friend of mine put together an outstanding set of half cents. No one knew he had it until he decided to sell it. Ironically, NGC get the variety wrong when I saw the piece. They called it the more common variety, but it was clearly the rare coin, and a very nice one too with VF sharpness and only few minor problems. If this piece had been offered to me circa 1990, I would have bought it in a heart beat, but by the time I had a shot at it, I had sold my collection. I simply hit a brick wall and could take the collection no further, no matter how much money I had. The varieties were in "strong hands," and they weren't selling any time soon. Here is the 1802 C-2 half cent I had in my collection. It came from the Garrett Collection. It may have been the most widely published 1802 half cent at the time because Dave Bowers pictured it several times in his books that were connected with those sales. Oddly enough, PCGS or NGC kicked this coin back to me in a body bag for "cleaning." I eventually got it into a straight graded "little white" ANACS holder and sold it in that format when I was a dealer. This coin was mentioned in Breen's half cent book condition census list. The 1802 C-1 is a "naked eye" die variety. It has the same reverse as the 1800 half cent which was originally made for the coins issued in the 1790's. You will note that this reverse is far different from the one shown above. The late Calvin Goodrich owned an 1802 C-1 for several years before he knew he had it. He had a very low grade 1802 which had a reverse that was almost slick. One day the light from a window caught the coin just right, and he saw the hint of the different style of lettering. I saw the piece, and would have picked it up right away. Of course, he was not in the market to sell the coin. I would have bought it fill the slot in my set. Just for background, all of the 1802 half cents are overdate coins with the "2" over a "0." All of them were made made from cut down large cent planchets that were not nice enough to be used for large cents. That's one of the reasons why the quality of the copper used for these coins is often poor.
Half cents are wonderful, and as several of you have pointed out, rare and underpriced. A date set of the classic heads and braided hairs is easily doable for anyone with a budget of $100 or more per coin. I know the 1811 will cost more than that, but anything later can be had in Fine or better for that price. Baided hairs can be hard to find in lower than XF condition, but you can find those for $100 or so. I have put together and sold three substantial collections of half cents, and written the book, but I have never owned or desired to own a 1796. Five figures for a low grade coin does not interest me. I have never desired to own an 1831, as I believe all of those are proofs, though I did once own an electrotype of one. I agree that 1804 is the most interesting date. Twelve different die varieties, including five Redbook varieties, most reasonably common and affordable.
Here is the best early half cent I have. It is a 1795 C-1 stuck on a thick planchet with the lettered edge. This 1835 Half Cent is my best Classic Head piece. Oddly enough, it's not my NGC registry type set because NGC low balled the grade at MS-63 Brown. This one makes MS-64 quite easily. I bought this raw many years ago. NGC graded this one MS-64. The hair detail is really sharp on this piece, but that is a characteristic of this die variety, 1826 C-1. The lines at the right of the "6" are the result of a die preparation blunder. The sinker punched in a number, probably "6", and realized it was misplaced. The lines are a cover-up.
Given what I had to pay it, it will never be a money maker for me. High grade early copper is closely held and expensive. According to the picking order, that one is seventh finest known of the 1795 C-1 variety.
Since we're talking about half cents, I saw something a little shocking in the most recent Red Book. Now I know that many, including myself, don't consider the Red Book as a definitive resource on coin values, but it can often serve as a quick litmus test. I recently purchased a 2022 edition after skipping the 2020 and 2021 versions and I noticed a pretty sharp decline in the Braided Hair half cent 1849 - 1857 values. For example, the 2019 edition values the 1849 Large Date at $700 in AU-50, $900 for MS-60 and $2,100 for MS-63BN. By contrast, the 2022 edition values the 1849 Large Date at $240 in AU-50, $500 for MS-60 and $700 for MS-63BN. The values shifted down 2 grades in 2 years, which is a fairly dramatic plummet. All of the other coins for this type fell at similar rates. Some late Classic Head dates also fell, though not as dramatically, including a few Draped Bust dates. But the differences in the Braided Hair prices made me think that half cents must have reached a demand low. Does anyone know if half cents have decreased in popularity this much over the past 2 years? Many other coin types have risen in value during this same period. Are these coins that unpopular?
Back then, I noticed the prices listed in the 2019 Redbook for the Braided Hair half cents were ridiculous and I just concluded it was some sort of editorial error because they were completely divorced from reality. It is not the case that the actual prices fell dramatically from 2019 (2018) to 2022 (2021) but that someone finally recognized the error in the Redbook and corrected it.
Like nearly everything else in American Numismatics - other than top pop stuff - prices for half cent varieties have been a little weak. The current zeitgeist in the field seems to be to get a small number of high grade coins rather than a more extensive collection of varieties. Early copper, though, tends not to fluctuate the way other coin types do. Historically, prices will be stable for several years then bump up and be stable again at the higher level. Repeat. Keep in mind that the prices quoted in guides like the Red Book come from consultants, generally dealers, who like to sell at the highest prices possible. It is entirely possible that Whitman got a new, more realistic consultant for the late date half cents in the last year or two. Auction prices realized are a much more accurate guide to pricing.
