JR Newsletter: 6 October 2024 (644)

 Brad Karoleff wrote:

I still need a lot of content for the next issue of the John Reich Journal. Please see if you can put something together for publication. 

Thanks

Brad

Bkaroleff (at) yahoo.com

JR Newsletter: 22 September 2024 (643)

Brad Karoleff wrote:

 

It is that time again.  I need input for the next issue of our John Reich Journal.

 

The cupboard is completely empty!

 

Please consider sending something for publication in the November issue.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Brad Karoleff

bkaroleff(at)yahoo.com

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Sean Kelly wrote:

 

Calling for volunteers (or nominations) for a speaker or presenter to give a talk at our upcoming JRCS meeting at the 70th annual FUN (Florida United Numismatists) show, January 9 - 12, 2025!  http://www.funtopics.com/fun-convention.html

 

Even if you can't commit to this January, we'd love to pencil you in for a future presentation - so don't hold back. Please share your ideas with Sean Kelly, skelly63(at)gmail.com

 Thanks!

 

JR Newsletter: 1 September 2024 (642)

Alan Weinberg wrote:

These two counterstamped bust halves were acquired together privately ( not on the bourse )  

at the recent ANA.

The Martine Fayette NC  ( HT 374 ) is the finest known of fewer than 10 known on bust halves and is unusual among those known as having the counterstamp on Liberty’s image ( and razor sharp) instead of in the obverse field. Almost  as if Martine wanted to see if his stamp visibility would be impaired placed on the high relief detail of Liberty.

It wasn’t.

The Yankee Robinson of Civil War vintage is common on seated halves but is reportedly unique on a bust half. Ironically, upon acquiring the Yankee Robinson I discovered accompanying it an old envelope of mine from years past indicating I once owned it !

See two images taken at home by iPhone

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Liz Coggan wrote in response to the discussion of an 1837 capped bust half dime with what appears to be a minted anomaly:

I think  it looks like the top of a misplaced digit, ie the 8, the way the raised area is shaped looks like part of the loop of an 8. Kind of what we see on Indian Head cents or seated coinage whereby portions of digits are struck up into say, the base of the rock, on a Seated half dollar. 

—Liz 

JR Newsletter: 25 August 2024 (641)

We received a few responses to the “how did this happen” that Richard Meaney wrote about last week.  A raised, semi-circle area under and attached to Miss Liberty’s nose was seen on an 1837 capped bust half dime.  Among the responses received so far:

 

-       Perhaps some sort of a strike through?

-       I am not a fan of nose piercing, but it is great to see you have started your next set of Capped Bust Half Dimes!

-       This is a “back and forth” conversation:

o   I think a telling item is that the reverse has the first A in AMERICA apparently falling apart which I assume is from die failure? So, something was happening or happened to the die.  Maybe something broke off the die or some minting equipment and damaged the die such that the area under the nose became raised.  It does look like a late die stage coin, even has the clash or deterioration marks under the left wing that is seldom seen.  Nice mystery!

o   Your thought of die damage is a good one, although I would have thought that more specimens would have turned up with the same issue but your analysis is sound.  Maybe when the coiners saw the coins with this issue, they pulled the die given that it is a late die state. Realistically, there is no other possible explanation for a raised area on the coin except a die issue and the shape of this raised area would be initially suggestive of a piece of metal falling on the die late in this die marriages production.  Only problem with this analysis is that this die was already hardened and tempered so a piece of metal falling on the die would be unlikely to produce an incused area in the die. And if an extemporaneous piece of metal fell on an annealed die, before it was hardened, the damage could have easily been lapped out, unless of course they didn’t see it. But as a late die state, clearly a large number of coins must have been struck from this die pair, so that doesn’t make a lot of sense. In reviewing all these scenarios, the only one that make cents, it that the die broke in that area towards the end of its life, just a weird shape for a die break, but I don’t have any other thoughts that make sense.  

-       I would need to see it in hand to determine what happened, though I am not sure even if I did see it in hand I would be able to come up with a reasonable scenario.

JR Newsletter: 18 August 2024 (640)

Richard Meaney wrote:

 

Last week, I mentioned that I had an interesting 1837 capped bust half dime.  I now have the images (below).  Here’s how this coin came to me.  I was sitting at the table of David Perkins at the ANA show and Liz Coggan walked up.  She had a CACG 1837 and asked, “have you seen anything like this before, I’d like to get your thoughts.”  A collector and I examined the coin and saw something odd.  Under and sort of attached to the underside of Miss Liberty’s nose was a raised semicircle and it did not appear to be there because of damage. There were some odd, but not unique characteristics on the reverse too, but I think I have seen similar on the reverse of other coins albeit infrequently at best.

 

I ended up buying this coin from Liz the next day (she’s the proprietor at Elizabeth Coggan Numismatics, www.lizcoggan.com) and I promised her she would get credit for finding/discovering this neat coin.  I shared the coin with at least half a dozen other collectors to get opinions on what caused this feature on the coin.  These collectors had the opportunity to view the coin in hand and hold it at various angles to get a better view. One collector said we should call this the “nose ring variety.”  The images provided are straight-on images and won’t provide the advantage that in-hand views do, but take a look. You may be able to enlarge these images by clicking on them.

 

What do you think?

JR Newsletter: 11 August 2024 (639)

Richard Meaney wrote:

I just returned from the ANA Summer Show and can report the coin market is alive and well!  I had a wonderful time and got to see many friends and even make some new friends along the way.  I plan on having some photos of a rather interesting 1837 Capped Bust Half Dime by next week.  I say interesting because it has some features I have not yet seen on a Capped Bust Half Dime and hope to get some opinions on it. 

If you get to talk with Dr. Glenn Peterson soon, you will want to congratulate him on being selected for the JRCS Hall of Fame.  Congratulations, Glenn!

Richard

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Mike McDaniel wrote after reading Sean Kelly's announcement of the Bust Quarter Collectors Society meeting in which the famous E and L Quarters were discussed: 

I have a very nice 1825/4(2) “L”, Browning 2, PCGS “Polished XF-details”, ex-Tompkins. 

$1250

Please contact Mike McDaniel at hazmat1(at)comcast.net if interested. 

JR Newsletter: 4 August 2024 (638)

Sean Kelly wrote:

 

The Bust Quarter Collectors Society will meet on August 7, 2024, at 2pm CDT in Convention Room 3. This meeting didn’t make it into ANA World’s Fair of Money catalog “Schedule of Events,” so please make a note of the time and place! The BQCS will discuss the recent sale of a unique bust quarter and explore the E and L quarters (famous counterstamped bust quarters). Anyone who has an "E" or "L" is invited to bring them for the discussion.

--

 

A reminder about the JRCS Annual Meeting:

 

The John Reich Collectors Society will have its annual general meeting for members and interested non-members at the ANA World's Fair of Money.  The meeting will be at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, August 7 in Room 12 of Rosemont's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

 

Chris Pilliod will be our guest speaker and his topic is the silver plug dollars of 1795.  If you have one and would like to share it with the membership, please consider bringing it to the meeting. 

 

At our annual meeting we will award the Jules Reiver Literary Award for 2023 and induct a new member into the JRCS Hall of Fame as well as elect a new slate of officers.  Non-members can sign up for membership at the meeting if they'd like!