Picked this up today from a small collection. Was surprised to see it in a shoebox, and was just going to turn it around since the quality might be in the AG to G range, but then I noticed the edge lettering. This is an 1825 oh, by the way. As you can see the 'or' and 'half' have been combined to spell 'orlf' with the o,l,f being strongly struck and the 'r' a good deal weaker. I know there are a ton of varieties in this series, but what do you guys think of keeping this otherwise mediocre coin?..
The problem is that many collectors do not look at the edge for this type of error-- I do, but there is not a large premium.
Frank's right. Edge errors are very common on the bust half coins. In fact, if you find one without an error, that seems to be more rare. Not a bad looking coin otherwise. Guy~
After I asked this question on here, I went to a couple local shops to check out what they had. Found a '29 with completely doubled edge inscription. Maybe a VG or a little better and they wanted 90 bucks for it, but they didn't even note the error on the card for it. Came to my own conclusion that these types of errors are VERY common. This one will go in the 'for sale' pile. Thanks for the info.
When the edge was lettered on these coin it was applyed by rotating the planchet between two edge dies each of which contained half of the inscription. FIFTY CENTS OR and HALF A DOLLAR. If the edging machine was not completely retracted to the correct starting points before the planchet was placed between the dies the edge inscriptions would overlap. The greater the overlap the scarcer the error. Usually when you do find them they only overlap the OR and the HA. Less likely are overlaps of AR and FI. In general the more overlap the more valuable the error. That completely doubled 1829 you found would be a highly desired error. Other greatly desired errors would be a tripled edge, an edge where one of the dies was installed upside down, and surprising a plain edge is one of the most desired edge errors.
Thanks for the good info on the coin guys. I learned a lot about a type coin I don't collect. I might go snag that 1829 one with the fully doubled letters though. I am sure I can get the 90 bucks back out of it if I decide to get rid of it.
