I bought my first US Half Cent yesterday and hope to complete most of the collection....what I can afford anyway. Anyone else working on this set?
I collected them by die variety from the mid 1980s until the mid '90s when I started my coin dealer business. They were my "seed money for the business." I could only get so far. I got 11 of the 12, 1804 half cent varieties, but the last one was almost impossible. There were about 15 known at the time. Finally, the late Jim McGuigan got one that was a ground salvage piece. The price was $7,300. I had a choice. I could buy a nice 1804 $2.50 gold piece as a type coin, or I could buy that. I opted for the gold piece, and that sort of ended my half cent collection. The piece you acquired, @Indianhead65, is an 1803 C-1. The quickest way to spot that variety is to look at the fraction bar at the bottom. There is a line that connects it with the right ribbon on the wreath. It is the most common of the four known 1803 half cent varieties. Half cents are a lot of fun to collect, but the series has never attracted that many date collectors. The trouble is there are some big gaps in the series where coins were never made (1812 to 1824) or the coins are so rare you hardly ever see them and the prices are half way to the moon (1840 to 1848). The common dates are available, but scarcer than some people might think. The Red Book is right. "All half cents are scarce."
Nice. I only bought what I needed for my type set. Still need to post 2 of them. Here’s one of them in my Dansco 7070.
Here's the 1793. I have always found it interesting that the die work on the reverse is similar to this 1793 Wreath Cent. Both dies were obviously made by the same hand.
Very nice coin and one in the series that I'll never be able to afford! I'm determined to get most of them though. I'll post my progress as I buy them.
“Never say never.” When I was young, I saw what the “old guys” had and never figured I would end up with kind of collectibles. Now that I am one of the “old guys,” I have some coins I never thought I would get, but it happens as a result of a lot of saving and financial planning.
I’ve found it helps to buy the key and semi-key dates first. As you add the less expensive coins to your set the key dates continue to rise in price.
And when you need or want an expensive coin, save your money. Just stop buying and save. And not just coins but food and other things in life. Cut costs wherever you can. Stop eating out. You’ll be surprised just how much you can save. Then you’ll have the money to buy that coin you want.
That might be good advice if you are collecting more common coins. The trouble is sometimes you have to wait for the right coin to become available. If you pass on something nice because you are holding out for the rarities first. My advice is study the series. You can put off buying a very common half cent variety like 1804 C-13 or 1806 C-1. But if you pass on a nice 1810 half cent, which does not seem like key date, you might regret it. Another point is it’s not a good idea to buy rare, expensive coins, when you have not learned how to grade the series. It’s better to screw up on a cheap common coin than a rare and expensive one.
I have owned two 1793 Half Cents. Aside from seeing them in auctions, I have never run into a 1796. I had one chance to buy an 1802, reverse of 1800. A dealer friend, who built a significant collection of half cents without me knowing it, sold it off circa 2010. He had one in VF-ish, which has to be among the better examples known. I could have bought it, but I have moved on from half cents by then. Another collector friend had an 1802 C-1 for years and didn’t know it. The coin graded Fair, and the reverse was almost slick. One day he had it sitting on his desk, and the light caught it just right. The old reverse is distinctive from the new reverse, and he spotted it. I saw the coin once. If it had been mine, I would have spotted it right away. I offered to buy it from him, but he wouldn’t entertain my offer. This was when I was really into the half cent collection. I knew collectors who had the varieties I needed, but they weren’t selling in the late 1980s. One collector had three of the 15 known examples of a rare variety. Another collector had two of them. I got tired of waiting and figured I had hit a brick wall with the collection. I was not far off. Those coins were sold at auction 20 to 25 years later. You needed financial courage and a strong checkbook to win much of anything in those auctions.
Half cents are my prime interest area at the moment. I'm slowly working my way back through time. I've got the Braided Hair set. And the Classic Hair set (all varieties). And the Red Book listed 1837 token. I'm now working on the earlier date/varieties. I've got 20 Draped Bust so far. Some I'll never get (no surprise there). I've got the type coins. 1793 Liberty Cap, Head Facing Left, C-4, F-12 BN 1795 Liberty Cap, Head Facing Right, C-2a, XF-40
I have a meaty vf details 1795 with some environmental damage. Somewhat porous so the details but eye appealing regardless reason I said the 3 coins is everything else is doable though scarce. I honestly find little appeal in the proof only dates
Yes, the Proof only dates were never an attraction for me. When Roger Cohen wrote his book, he called them, "The other half cents" and left them out of it. That raised some eyebrows, but for those us who could not afford those coins, it was fine.
I also don't have interest in proofs. The only proofs I have are for my US birth year set (1941). Also NOT collecting proofs makes certain sets easier to complete (or at least to get closer to completion). For my US Type Set I don't have to get a Stella (couldn't have afforded it anyway). Nor do I need an 1836 half cent. That sort of thing.
