I recently started casually working on a US Half Cent set.....I have two so far and just received this 1805 in the mail.
Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! As soon as I saw that was a half cent I had to try to ID the variety. I've got it as c C-1 (R-1). I won't try to grade it.
The 1805 half cent is a slightly better date. Among the Draped Bust pieces, 1804 and ‘06 are the easiest so far as dates go. The 1802 (always a 2 over 0 overdate) is toughest. The 1808 is hard to find in any beyond VF. The 1800 is fairly common followed by 1803 and ‘07.
If you want a real challenge, look through the draped bust half cents for sale online and pick out ones you think would straight grade at a TPG that are under $600 value. I've scoured the internet just for one nice plain, VG to VF example. It seems like the prices are increasing on them every year and if you find any at a show they're usually above online price guides.
