Nothing better to do tonight, so I thought I’d put together a die study on the 1817 O-105 die marriage. This was the last use of obverse die 3-s2. (Used previously to strike the O-103a--the punctuated date die marriage in the die state with the dot removed). In all there are four die states for this die marriage: (1) No Obverse or Reverse die cracks (the O-105 Prime; Probably R7 per the Auction and Mail Bid Prices Realized (AMBPR) Although I have seen one of the 6 or 7 known I don’t own one to show. One of my favorite dealers does have one listed for sale though--and my birthday is coming (hint hint) (2) Obverse die cracks only the O-105; probably R6 (13-30 examples) per the AMBPR Note the crack at star 9 No die crack at date No crack at top of OF. (3) the O-105a...Obverse and Reverse die cracks , R4- (150 to 200 examples) Die crack at date just starts above 7 in date Die crack above OF 4) the O-105b...Full-blown Obverse and Reverse die cracks Probably R-4+ (76 to 125 examples) Crack at Star 9 extends fully across Liberty's cap; crack at date extends to rim above Star 11 Reverse no difference from above
Those are amazing, as are your attribution ninja skills. Would you mind sharing how many different varieties of Capped Bust Half Dollars overall that you have? I assume you have a complete set of the Capped Bust Halves? I'm working on a low grade basic year set now. One small request, will you sign my book for me?
