Capped Bust Half Dollar, A Problem Coin?

Thanks, I got it for $45 and like the detail. I agree it looks to be cleaned, but in my experience most old coins have been cleaned at some point. This is my first CB Half and I'll do a lot more research to see which coins I want to add to my collection.

I agree with the cleaning. Looks like around F-15 details.

At that age you're bound to have some problems....They're great coins,,available at a reasonable cost....Even cleaned,,,she is sweet!!

Other than an old cleaning, it's not a bad coin. I think you got it for a decent price.

Well, there are a few reasons Capped Bust Halves are cheaper than the Capped Bust quarters. Most obviously, mintage numbers. Add up the total mintage for all Capped Bust quarters (large sized) and you get roughly 1.2 million for ALL dates combined. They made more halves almost every year than that. Some years they made over 5 million Halves.. The second reason is the length of time they produced CBH's. 1807-1836 minus 1816.....so 29 years vs. 10 years for the CBQ. Two of those years are virtually un-collectable. 1823 I've never seen in person and the 1827, they made 4000. I've never seen either in person. Both are SUPER rare. The 1824/ is difficult but possible to find.

The most interesting thing about Bust Halves vs. Bust Quarters IMO is the way they were used affected survival rates very differently. CBH's were traded amongst banks a lot. Therefore, they stayed in bags and never saw the counter as much as the quarters. As a result, they saw less wear (generally) and fewer were lost/damaged etc. CBQ's, on the other hand were not only made for a handful of years, they saw HEAVY circulation. Of the roughly 1.2 million minted, perhaps 30% are gone forever. Lost or destroyed. Of the survivors, MANY are damaged and/or heavily worn. So, when you come across an honest CBQ that is problem free it has truly beat the odds and IMO is one of the most desirable coins out there. I have collected them for many years and the supply is tighter than ever since the collector base has widened. With less than a million survivors, of which half of those are probably heavily damaged, cleaned, holed etc., you can see that the series is truly rare. Take the Draped Bust Series. Even more rare.