Two Early Seated Half Dimes for the Collection

1837 and 1842-O. Neither in high grade but nice additions to my early seated collection.

The 1837 seems to have minor damage at the shield and a die break at 'A' of AMERICA.
The 1844-O is low grade but still nice I think.

 

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Nice! I like the bluish toning on the ‘37 half dime. Where did you buy them?

 

I like the condition as well color on both coins

I like the 1837 nice strike details and color, the mark on the shield is there but forgiving .value in USD 150.
The 1844 O is an RPD,however I have no listing for it. Want to bet a proof die was transferred between Philly and New Orleans. As the date shows a repunched digits very simular to the rpd 002 1844 pr. Strike. Value usd 80.

 

Here are my type 1 and 2 1837 dates

 

Are the varieties Large Date and Small Date?
That's what I think I see.
And checking the Red Book I see it lists both.
I didn't previously know about them.
Now I have to check the one in my type set.

>> Checking <<

Turns out mine is a Large Date in PCGS XF-45.
I know this because is says so on the label.
Apparently I didn't care at the time of purchase.
NOW you've got me interested.

 

One sorce may refer to them lg, & sm date or curved date / straight date there are several rpd and mpd on the two varieties.

 

Paddy, is there a definitive reference for SL Half Dimes?
I've got the Logan-McCloskey reference but that only goes through Capped Bust Half Dimes.

 

Ok here is the answer....
In 1837 2 different date punches were used on seated half dimes.
The number of working dies are unknown...the variations have been referenced by lg, and sm date.
When in fact the are approximately the same size digits.

 

No definitive reference, closest is probably Al Blythe's book Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dimes. A couple of online references are Steve Crains Liberty Seated Half Dime Reference collection
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagecollection/514182
Shortcoming on this is although the varities are pictured the descriptive text is brief.

and Clint Cummins Liberty Seated Half dime Attribution Guide
https://sites.google.com/view/clintcummins/half-dime-attribution-guide
The Cummins guide is very good but it only includes a small number of the date and mint combinations so far. If it gets finished it shold match the Fortin Seated dime and the Buggart Half dollar books.

 

Yes I have the Kevin Flynn reference nice book ,I have shared it with other members here who have purchased and are very pleased.

 

Both are very nice additions to your set. A coin doesn't have to be high grade to be nice looking.

 

@kanga if you like to have a look at this h-10 reference I'll bring it next show.
You can look it over.

 

@Paddy54, thank you for the invaluable information. You really know your half dimes!
How about that die break at 'A'. Is that an anomaly, or rather common on 1837 half dimes?

 

Nice pickups!

I'm not convinced that's actually damage - it looks more like a minor planchet flaw, such as a lamination.

 

There's another item on your 1844 O is that for this date there are two mm sizes.and size matters....the op coin is a lg. mm .
The 1844 O the mm is smaller and the inside is more oval shaped than round like the outside. Mint mark size 0.08mm
The 1844 O is larger than the smaller one, wiih both outerside and inside are oval shaped . A V-1 1.2mm top to bottom

The 1844 O a better date mintage of 220,000 coins the New Orleans mint record shows 3 obv. dies,and 9 rev dies used for the minatge.

 

Flynn has a boatload of guides out.
I've got his 2¢, silver 3¢ and nickel 3¢ books.
And I know there are more.
That many makes me suspicious of how good they are; how good was his research.
But he co-authored some of them so maybe ....

 

Yes I have several of his books.ihc,h-10,& silver lll.
There isn't a lot out there .....the old references are out of print seldom found for sale . I have a few out of print books 1 is being put back together in a binder.
I know there are some on line , I love having my own library to work from.

 

Nice coins. Original and nice surfaces. I love the no stars design. And the 44 o a tough date

 

Here are the two I recently found metal detecting

 

Nice. Maybe don’t clean them so much in the future and maybe start your own thread on them. A lot of us would love to see what else you found