United States: silver Capped Bust half dollar, 1818

United States: silver Capped Bust half dollar, 1818

Obverse: bust of Liberty left, wearing a Phrygian cap.
Reverse: bald eagle, wings spread, clutching an olive branch and bundle of arrows in its talons, as on the Great Seal of the United States.
Issuer: United States of America, Philadelphia Mint.
Specifications: .892 fine silver, 0.3866 oz. ASW, 32.5 mm, 13.5 g. Edge lettering: FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR. Mintage: 1,960,322 (all varieties).
Grade: PCGS VF30; cert. #36319239.
Reference: PCGS-6113, Numista-10637, Overton-113.
Provenance: ex-Lane J. Brunner ("astrorat" on Collectors Universe), 20 May 2020.
Notes: the Capped Bust design type had its debut on half dollars in 1807 and continued, with some modification, until 1839, when it was replaced by the Seated Liberty type.
Comments: I wanted an earlier (1810s) Bust half with original toning, and found this dove-grey example to be quite handsome. It has light "Circulated Cameo" contrast, which is a look I've always liked on circulated silver.















022000S

 

I voted a 9 in the poll. Ask me again next week and it could be a 10. My opinions of my own coins often fluctuate between 8, 9, and 10 in these very unscientific polls. If I ever vote a 6 or 7 on one, you can be sure that one is on its way out the door before too long. 5 or less, and I wouldn't have put it in my collection to begin with.

But silly though they may be, these polls do provide me with some interesting if not 100% statistically sound information. Like any collector, I like to know what other people think about my collection- even if the audience is just the "Man on the Street" who might not collect what I do- or might not even be a coin collector at all. That's the reasoning behind that "whether you're an expert or not" clause in the poll question.

It gives me some general idea on what my more (and less-) popular coins are. Comments are the best, but silent lurker types who don't post will often vote anonymously in the polls.

(Thanks for looking and voting, Silent Lurker Types.)

 

Not sure. You mean it would be a 9 if "adjusted for inflation", i.e., ownership bias?

 

That was my exact buying rationale. I usually can't afford higher grades, though I could have gotten a somewhat higher graded one in the 1830s this time around. I didn't want to, though, preferring instead to get a nice original grey VF from the 'teens instead. I find it more interesting/appealing than even an XF45-AU50 1830s coin would be.

To date, the highest grade Bust half I have owned was this PCGS AU55 CAC. It was just a tad "too white" for me (though not as washed out as the overexposed images indicate). I tend to like a bit more toning on my Bust halves, whether it be pastel colors on the XF-AU pieces or contrasting greys on the VF and lower ones.

Of course I'd have been fine with this one's whiteness, had it had stronger luster. The luster was there in this case, but rather subtle. I ended up swapping the coin.