Sunday, February 27, 2011

JR Newsletter: 27 February 2011 (25)

Steve Crain announces the half dime census:

The next issue of the "John Reich Journal" will contain a notice of the next Bust half dime census, advising all JRCS member half dime collectors to submit their census of all Bust half dimes in their collections. The census will include any and all examples of the 1792 Half Disme, Flowing Hair, Draped Bust, and Capped Bust half dimes. The census will be compiled and published in the Spring issue of the John Reich Journal. Please submit your census of all half dimes in your collection, by date, die marriage, remarriage, and by grade, including duplicates, to:

Stephen A. Crain 
John Reich Collectors Society
P. O. Box 1680
Windham, ME 04062

Please include your JRCS membership number with your census. All collections will be anonymously reported using only your membership number, and all information reported will be kept strictly confidential.

Please also include any of the remarriage numbers in your collection, as listed in "Federal Half Dimes 1792 - 1837", by Russell J. Logan and John W. McCloskey. I can only report the information that is provided to me, but most collectors would like to see a breakdown by remarriage, rather than just by marriage. If you have not attributed the remarriages, and only have them by marriage, please report them anyway, and they will be included. Even if your collection is still attributed by Valentine numbers, please report them and I will translate them. We would like to see significantly greater participation in this census survey than we had in the last; the greater the participation, the more meaningful the results.

You may also submit your census via email, to the following email address:  
mrhalfdime (at) aol.com

Please help us to make this half dime census survey the most comprehensive survey ever compiled.

Stephen A. Crain
Half Dime Census Keeper - JRCS 

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Re: Frank Goss comments and Jim Matthews's update for the Reeded Bust Halves.  Is there currently a source of information or publication for the  "Additional Reeded Edge Half Dollars" varieties identified, since Jules Reiver's 1988 publication?????
 
P.S.   I agree the Jules was an incredible variety specialists and knowledgeable numismatist of early US type coins.
 
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I just read the online version of The Numismatist, March issue. The feature story is about John Reich, by Eric Brothers. Written for the general ANA membership and not necessarily geared to JRCS members, the article has a somewhat rudimentary tone and I'm not sure all the facts are straight (I have to look up a few things, for instance, I don't recall the monogrammed clasp theory being universally accepted among experts ), but kudos to him for bringing to light the 'overworked and under-appreciated' aspect of John Reich to the rest of the numismatic community.

-Jeff

The 1825 Half Dollars have two different obverse master dies for the year. In Bust Half Fever they are numbered obverse master dies #4 and #5. Can anyone tell me which obverses are from the newer master die #5? In Overton, Peterson, and Souders they all mention that some of the obverses are form the new master die but none of them specify which obverses. There are 15 obverses for 1825 and one book mentions that 4 of the obverses use the new master die #5. I’ve tried to figure it out from the pictures in Overton but have had a hard time distinguishing between the two master dies. In my collection I only have an O-101, 105, and 110 in the VF-XF grade range. Anyone's help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
 
Gary Rosner