JR Newsletter: 7 December 2014 (218)

We have three contributions this week. 

First, from Alan Bricker:

Responding to the recent inquiries regarding the existence of a Bust Dime VIM

by Jules Reiver, I can affirm that at one time Jules did consider doing an early

dime VIM and he asked me about possibly joining with him on such a project.

However, following the 1984 release of the JR dime reference, we felt that doing

an early dime VIM was not a priority relative to other denominations which were

lacking availability of up-to-date reference material.

Therefore, although we had dime variety notes, no early dime VIM was published.

Alan Bricker

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Next, Jim Matthews shared a recent "treasure-hunting" adventure:

Here's what I did on a rainy Friday afternoon in Virginia. Attending the Weyer's Cave Show not too far from home, a dealer friend of mine who purchases low grade examples of coins to supply museums with real coins for novices to buy had a large selection of early silver coins held aside for me. These real but worn coins are sold to museums instead of those dreaded "copy" coins that appear in deal after deal that do nothing but confuse the gullible. I went through this group quickly, all low grade (the best was maybe VG with damage), most were Fair-2 or AG-3, several were virtually worn smooth on the reverse. The group included about 100 Capped Bust half dimes, and probably 400-500 Capped Bust dimes. The better grade coins were sold to other sources long before this heap was assembled. I flipped and studied as quickly as possible, looking for easy to find varieties. Nothing of great interest appeared that I recognized. I did buy 5 1820 dimes, a couple of 1821 dimes, one 1824/2, a trio of 1825s and two 1827s. A few others that interested me, including one 1834 with the trio of reverse cuds and an 1830 with a countermark with the date 1856. I did not see any 1829 Curl Base 2 coins, or any 1822s hanging around in the mound of history.

Its not often one gets to wade through what is undoubtedly a more or less virgin hoard of coins. These come from non-numismatic sources and likely represent coins that were in circulation in the 1850s and later given their extremely worn condition. I apologize for the attached lousy iPhone photo, but like the coins, it gets the general idea across. Treasure hunting is alive and well in Shenandoah Valley today.

Jim Matthews

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Finally, Sheridan Downey wrote with an update for his planned FUN mail bid sale:

The Lot List for Mail Bid Sale No. 40 that I sent last week had a few omissions and errors, notably a failure to list the coins with CAC stickers.  A revised version is attached.  Your readers should note that all coins are graded by PCGS unless otherwise noted.  The sale closes during the FUN show, Thursday evening Jan. 8 at 6:30 PM EST.  Lance Keigwin's photos of the coins are now available are my web site, www.sheridanscoins.com.  I continue to encourage collectors to preview lots by overnight mail.  I'm working on the catalog now and hope to have it in the mail before Christmas.  It will also be posted on my web site.

 

Sheridan

LOT LIST -- MAIL BID SALE NO. 40 Closing Thurs. Jan. 8, 2015 6:30 PM EST
PART 1 - SELECTIONS FROM THE COLLECTION OF KEITH DAVIGNON -- LOTS 1- 24
LOT	DATE/VARIETY/RARITY	PCGS GRADE
1	1808 O.109a R.3	AU 58 CAC
2	1810 O.102a R.1	XF 40 OGH CAC
3	1811 Sm.8 O.105a R.2	AU 58 OGH
4	1811 Sm. 8 O.107 R.4	AU 58
5	1811 Sm.8 O.113 R.5	AU 53
6	1813 O.108 R.3	AU 58 CAC
7	1818 O.109 R.1	AU 58 CAC
8	1824/1 O.102 R.5+	AU 53 CAC
9	1827 O.136 R.4	AU 58 CAC
10	1827 O.142 R.3	MS 61 CAC
11	1827 O.143 R.3	AU 55 CAC
12	1829 O.105a R.1	MS 62
13	1830 Sm.0 O.107a R.2	MS 63
14	1831 O.109 R.1	MS 63
15	1832 O.110 R.1	AU 58 OGH CAC
16	1832 O.116 R.3	AU 58 CAC
17	1832 O.121 R.3	AU 58 OGH CAC
18	1833 O.106 R.2	MS 62
19	1834 SDSL O.111 R.1	AU 58 OGH
20	1835 O.105 R.1	AU 58
21	1836 O.101 R.1	AU 58
22	1836 O.102 R.3	AU 55 CAC
23	1836/1336 O.108a R.2	AU 58 CAC
24	1836 O.122 R.2	AU 58 CAC
PART 2 - PROPERTIES OF VARIOUS CONSIGNORS - LOTS 25 TO 79
LOT	DATE/VARIETY/RARITY	PCGS GRADE
25	1807 50/20 Rev. O.112 R.1	AU 58 CAC
26	1808/7 O.101 R.1	AU 50
27	1808 O.110a  R.4+	VF 35
28	1809 O.103 R.1	AU 50 CAC
29	1809 O.109a III Edge R.2	AU 50
30	1809 O.111 R.4?	AU 50
31	1810 O.102a R.2	XF 45 CAC
32	1811/10 O.101 R.1	AU 53
33	1811/10 O.101 R.1	XF 45
34	1811 Sm.8 O.113 R.5	VF 35
35	1812/1 Large 8 O.101 R.5-	VF 25 CAC
36	1812/1 Small 8 O.102 R.2	XF 45
37	1812 O.106 R.3	NGC AU 58
38	1813 O.102 R.4	NGC AU 58
39	1813 O.103 R.2	AU 53
40	1813 O.105 R.1	AU 50
LOT	DATE/VARIETY/RARITY	PCGS GRADE
41	1813 O.108a R.2	AU 50
42	1814/3 O.101a R.2	AU 53
43	1814 O.106a R.4+	NGC MS 62
44	1818/7 Sm.8 O.102 R.2	AU 50
45	1818 Pincher 8's O.108 R.1	AU 50 CAC
46	1818 O.109 R.1	XF 45 CAC
47	1819/8 Lg.9 O.102 R.2	AU 50
48	1819 O.115 R.3	AU 50
49	1820/19 Sq. Base 2 O.101a R.3	AU 50
50	1820/19 Curl Base 2 O.102 R.1	AU 53
51	1820 Lg. Dt., Sq.2 w/ Knob O.105 R.1	AU 50
52	1820 Lg. Dt., Sq.2 No Knob O.108 R.2	AU 53
53	1821 O.101a R.1	AU 55 OGH
54	1822/1 O.101 R.1	AU 55
55	1822 O.109 R.2	MS 62 CAC
56	1823 Broken 3 O.101 R.3	XF 40
57	1823 Patched 3 O.101a R.1	XF 45
58	1823 Patched 3 O.102 R.4	Raw XF 45
59	1823 O.103 R.2	AU 55 CAC
60	1823 O.104 R.3	AU 55
61	1823 O.104"a" R.5?	AU 50
62	1823 O.106a R.2	AU 55
63	1824/1 O.101a R.2	AU 50
64	1826 O.102 R.1	AU 58 CAC
65	1826 O.119 R.4	AU 58 CAC
66	1827/6 O.102 R.1	AU 50
67	1827 O.109 R. 4-	AU 50
68	1827 O.136 R.4	NGC AU 58
69	1828 Sq. Base 2, Sm.8's O.110 R.2	AU 55 CAC
70	1829/7 O.101 R.1	AU 53
71	1829 O.103 R.1	AU 58
72	1829 O.105 R.1	AU 53
73	1831 O.103 R.1	AU 55 CAC
74	1832 O.103 R.1	AU 55 OGH
75	1832 O.116 R.3	AU 53 CAC
76	1832 O.118 R.1	AU 55 CAC
77	1832 No Tail Feathers O.120 R.3	AU 58 CAC
78	1834 Lg. Dt. & Ltrs. O.103 R.2	AU 50 CAC
79	1834 Lg. Dt., Sm. Ltrs. O.105 R.1	NGC AU 55
80	1834 Lg. Dt., Sm. Ltrs. O.106 R.1	AU 58
81	1836 O.105 R.4-	AU 53
82	1836/1336 O.108a R.2	AU 55
PART 3 - A SELECT GROUP OF BUST DIMES AND QUARTERS -- LOTS 83- 91
LOT	DATE/VARIETY/RARITY	PCGS GRADE
83	1811/09 10¢ JR-1 R.3	VF 35
84	1814 Lg. Date 10¢ JR-4 R.2	XF 40 CAC
85	1821 Lg. Date 10¢ JR-1 R.2	NGC AU 58
86	1828 Lg. Date 10¢ JR-2 R.3	XF 45 CAC
87	1833 10¢ JR-1 R.3	AU 55 CAC
LOT	DATE/VARIETY/RARITY	PCGS GRADE
88	1834 Lg.4 10¢ JR-5 R.1	AU 50 CAC
89	1836 10¢ JR-3 R.3	AU 55 CAC
90	1806/5 25¢ B.1 R.2	VF 30 CAC
91	1828 25¢ B.4 R.3	XF 45 CAC

JR Newsletter: 30 November 2014 (217)

We have three contributions this week.  First, in response to an inquiry by Winston Zack, something from Paul Kluth:

In reply to Winston Zack's request in the November 9th JR Newsletter about a recording or summary of Jim Matthews' Contemporary Counterfeit talk at the recent Whitman Baltimore Coin Show in late October...

It was with great disappointment that John Frost and I couldn't somehow web cast or record Jim's talk in Baltimore.  The informal talk and discussion among the attendees was excellent and extremely enjoyable.  Jim brought many nice examples of both contemporary and modern counterfeits across different U.S. series and denominations that everyone could pick up and observe coin-in-hand.

Of particular interest to JRCS members were of course the fake Bust Halves and other Bust denominations.  Many in attendance were members of JRCS, LSCC and BCCS, and many of the conversations centered around topics found in the book "Contemporary Counterfeit Capped Bust Half Dollars" by Keith Davignon.

Earlier that day, John and I attempted to web cast the meetings for both the Liberty Seated Collectors Club and the Barber Coin Collectors Society, but unfortunately there was no WiFi access provided by the Baltimore Convention Center in the meeting rooms where the show took place.  Even though a sponsoring company in Baltimore provided free public access, the consistency of the internet connection in the rooms was very unreliable, thus we gave up trying to record the JRCS meeting.

Now, from the standpoint of web casting or recording Jim's talk, it would have been a little awkward too, since the presentation wasn't intended to be a formal PowerPoint presentation that would lend itself for easy recording and later access by club members or via YouTube.  It would have been a little difficult as well to capture video of the coins close-up while discussions were going on.  But I think it would still have been an interesting talk to record for later playback nonetheless and enjoyment by others not in attendance.

Very neat what Jim Matthews shared in Baltimore and thanks again!

Paul Kluth

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Brad Karoleff wrote:

I response to John's inquiry about a DIME VIM. I have never seen one. I have the half dime, quarter, and reeded edge half dollar VIMs in my library. 

I have never heard of a dime one. Anyone else?

Brad Karoleff

(editor's note:  John Okerson is looking for a Half Dime Variety Identification Manual, all typographical errors notwithstanding)

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Finally, from Sheridan Downey:

I thought readers might like a peek at the attached Lot List for my upcoming Mail Bid Sale #40.  The Sale will close Jan. 7 during the FUN Show in Orlando.  Photos of the coins and more info regarding the Sale will be posted on my oft neglected web site later this week.  Readers with interest in bidding in the Sale are welcome to request a catalogue by emailing me at sdowney3(at)aol.com

Kind regards,

 Sheridan

LOT LIST -- MAIL BID SALE NO. 40 Closing Jan. 7, 2015 6:00 PM EST
PART 1 - SELECTIONS FROM THE COLLECTION OF KEITH DAVIGNON -- LOTS 1- 24
LOT	DATE/VARIETY/RARITY	PCGS GRADE
1	1808 O.109a R.3	AU 58
2	1810 O.102a R.1	XF 40 OGH
3	1811 Sm.8 O.105a R.2	AU 58 OGH
4	1811 Sm. 8 O.107 R.4	AU 58
5	1811 Sm.8 O.113 R.5	AU 53
6	1813 O.108 R.3	AU 58
7	1818 O.109 R.1	AU 58
8	1824/1 O.102 R.5+	AU 53
9	1827 O.136 R.4	AU 58
10	1827 O.142 R.3	MS 61
11	1827 O.143 R.3	AU 55
12	1829 O.105 R.1	MS 62
13	1830 Sm.0 O.107a R.2	MS 63
14	1831 O.109 R.1	MS 63
15	1832 O.110 R.1	MS 63 OGH
16	1832 O.116 R.3	AU 58
17	1832 O.121 R.3	AU 58 OGH
18	1833 O.106 R.2	MS 62
19	1834 SDSL O.111 R.1	AU 58 OGH
20	1835 O.105 R.1	AU 58
21	1836 O.101 R.1	AU 58
22	1836 O.102 R.3	AU 55
23	1836/1336 O.108a R.2	AU 58
24	1836 O.122 R.2	AU 58
PART 2 - PROPERTIES OF VARIOUS CONSIGNORS - LOTS 25 TO 79
LOT	DATE/VARIETY/RARITY	PCGS GRADE
25	1808/7 O.101 R.1	AU 50
26	1808 O.110a  R.4+	VF 35
27	1809 O.103 R.1	AU 50
28	1809 O.109a III Edge R.2	AU 50
29	1809 O.111 R.4?	AU 50
30	1810 O.102a R.2	XF 45
31	1811/10 O.101 R.1	AU 53
32	1811/10 O.101 R.1	XF 45
33	1811 Sm.8 O.113 R.5	VF 35
34	1812/1 Large 8 O.101 R.5-	VF 25
35	1812 Small 8 O.102 R.2	XF 45
36	1812 O.106 R.3	NGC AU 58
37	1813 O.102 R.4	NGC AU 58
38	1813 O.103 R.2	AU 53
39	1813 O.105 R.1	AU 50
40	1813 O.108a R.2	AU 50
41	1814/3 O.101a R.2	AU 53
42	1814 O.106a R.4+	NGC MS 62
43	1818/7 Sm.8 O.102 R.2	AU 50
44	1818 Pincher 8's O.108 R.1	AU 50
45	1818 O.109 R.1	XF 45
46	1819/8 Lg.9 O.102 R.2	AU 50
47	1819 O.115 R.3	AU 50
48	1820/19 Sq. Base 2 O.101a R.3	AU 50
49	1820/19 Curl Base 2 O.102 R.1	AU 50
50	1820 Lg. Dt., Sq.2 w/ Knob O.105 R.1	AU 50
51	1820 Lg. Dt., Sq.2 No Knob O.105 R.2	AU 53
52	1821 O.101a R.1	AU 55
53	1822/1 O.101 R.1	AU 55
54	1822 O.109 R.2	MS 62
55	1823 Broken 3 O.101 R.3	XF 40
56	1823 Patched 3 O.101a R.1	XF 45
57	1823 Patched 3 O.102 R.4	Raw XF 45
58	1823 O.103 R.2	AU 55
59	1823 O.104 R.3	AU 55
60	1823 O.104"a" R.5?	AU 50
61	1823 O.106a R.2	AU 55
62	1824/1 O.101a R.2	AU 50
63	1826 O.102 R.1	AU 58
64	1826 O.119 R.4	AU 58
65	1827/6 O.102 R.1	AU 50
66	1827 O.109 R. 4-	AU 50
67	1827 O.136 R.4	NGC AU 58
68	1828 Sq. Base 2, Sm.8's O.110 R.2	AU 55
69	1829/7 O.101 R.1	AU 53
70	1829 O.103 R.1	AU 58
71	1829 O.105 R.1	AU 53
72	1831 O.103 R.1	AU 55
73	1832 O.103 R.1	AU 55
74	1832 O.116 R.3	AU 53
75	1832 O.118 R.1	AU 55
76	1832 No Tail Feathers O.120 R.3	AU 58
77	1834 Lg. Dt. & Ltrs. O.103 R.2	AU 50
78	1834 Lg. Dt., Sm. Ltrs. O.105 R.1	NGC AU 55
79	1834 Lg. Dt., Sm. Ltrs. O.105 R.1	AU 58
80	1836 O.105 R.4-	AU 53
81	1836/1336 O.108a R.2	AU 55
PART III - A SELECT GROUP OF BUST DIMES AND QUARTERS -- LOTS 82- 91
LOT	DATE/VARIETY/RARITY	PCGS GRADE
82	1811/09 10¢ JR-1 R.3	VF 35
84	1814 Lg. Date 10¢ JR-4 R.2	XF 40
85	1821 Lg. Date 10¢ JR-1 R.2	NGC AU 58
86	1828 Lg. Date 10¢ JR-2 R.3	XF 45
87	1833 10¢ JR-1 R.3	AU 55
88	1834 Lg.4 10¢ JR-5 R.1	AU 50
89	1836 10¢ JR-3 R.3	AU 55
90	1806/5 25¢ B.1 R.2	VF 30
91	1828 25¢ B.4 R.3	XF 45

JR Newsletter: 23 November 2014 (216)

We have two contributions this week.

John Okerson wrote with a second inquiry regarding obtaining an ORIGINAL version of the Reiver VIM for half dimes (not a photo copy):

Wanted!  Does anyone have Jules Reiver's Variety Identification Manual for United States Dimes 1796-1837 that they would be willing to part with?  Hard to tell if it even exists.

 

John Okerson

johnokerson(at)gmail.com

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Jim Matthews wrote:

Happy Thanksgiving to all my numismatic friends! I hope that everyone can take a day or two out of this busy time to reflect on the blessings of the year, our families, friends and adventures of 2014. Each person has their own abundance and now is the time to recognize these gifts. This has been another year of change and excitement for me, which is a continuing theme in my life. Collections come and go, but the friends stay on and grow!

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at FUN and at shows in the future.

Jim

JR Newsletter: 16 November 2014 (215)

no new contributions this week

JR Newsletter: 9 November 2014 (214)

I believe readers will find this week's contributions to be quite interesting…at least I did!

First, from David Quint, comes a response to an inquiry last week about an 1804 JR-2 dime in the Heritage Gardner auction:

I have some thoughts as to the very interesting points Mike Rocco brought up regarding the Gardner 1804 JR-2 dime. Indeed the appearance of the E and R in LIBERTY do look different than in other examples of the JR-2. On early die states of the 1804 Obverse 1 (including all 1804 JR-1's), the E sports a long base and a strong upper left flag, and the R is flat across the top. As you observe later die states (with prominent cracks running through S10 through the right obverse field and through S13 to the chin and upward across the cheek of Liberty), the E begins to have problems. You can see this on Heritage's site when examining two LDS high-grade examples - the Price/Eliasberg coin (7/08:1443) and the James. T Stack coin (8/07:1622). The upper left flag and upper right flags on the E are disappearing, the E is weakening, and the top of the R is thinning. You don't see these features on JR-1's or on EDS or MDS JR-2's. By blowing up the photo of the Gardner coin one can see clear signs of retooling on the E, both at the left base and the right base. The E punch is also remarkably bold relative to most examples of the JR-2.

So what I think happened here is that very near the end of the life of the sole 1804 obverse dime die, a mint worker repunched and retooled both the E and the R (and quite possibly the reverse feathers as well) as they were becoming obviously weak. While the Gardner coin is obvious late die state based on the S13 crack, there is surprisingly no sign in the photos of the prominent crack across the cheek of Liberty seen on other high grade LDS coins. This could be due to wear or due to the same mint worker repairing the more obvious facial crack by filling it in. It would be a lot easier to confirm all this if another example with this recutting were known, but I as well have never noticed one. Good eye on the part of Mr. Rocco.

David Quint

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For fans of early dollars, we received this news from David Perkins:

1794 Dollar Surfaces at the Recent Whitman Baltimore Show

 What is believed to be a new and previously unknown example of the 1794 silver dollar was on display at the recent Whitman Baltimore show.  It was said to have shown up at a “valuation day” held by Spink in the South of England.  What was particularly notable to me when I viewed the coin was the relatively strong strike on this 1794 dollar, which usually comes with striking weakness in the lower left of the obverse in the date and stars.  The coin is graded NGC AU50 CAC. 

Paul Gilkes wrote an article on this discovery and coin in this week’s issue of Coin World newspaper.  The article is titled, “1794 Flowing Hair Dollar in Spink Sale / Coin Held by British Family for Decades Surfaces During Valuation Day.” 

W. David Perkins
Centennial, CO

The photo (courtesy of Spink) from Paul Gilkes' article:

The link to the Paul Gilkes article is here:  http://www.coinworld.com/insights/about-uncirculated-50-1794-silver-dollar-goes-to-auction.html

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Winston Zack wrote:

I am interested to hear about Jim Matthews' contemporary counterfeit coin presentation/ talk at the Baltimore show this past weekend. If someone has a summary of the main points discussed, or better yet we have the video of the presentation which can be shared (as an idea the JRCS club could have it's own YouTube channel where these types of educational videos could be posted/ hosted), I would be very interested in hearing about it.

Thanks,
Winston Zack (stoneman101(at)gmail.com)