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 Replies: 29 / Views: 3,592 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2200 Posts |
One of the few remaining empty holes in my 7070 is Liberty Seated half dime (1837-59). When I get to thinking about buying one and start to check out ebay, my already mild level of enthusiasm diminishes. I try to buy in at least an XF-AU grade for all my 7070 coins, and the prices at that level for a Half Dime just don't seem worth it. It's a tiny coin that even in a nice condition is fairly boring to look at. And it seems like no one ever talks about Half Dimes anyway. Can anyone tell me how I can get excited about Half Dimes? |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:Can anyone tell me how I can get excited about Half Dimes? By realizing that only the Mint's very_best_effort can create a clean, strong strike on such a tiny coin. Everything from the die on down has to be almost flawless for a well-struck Half Dime. They are truly the jewels of numismatics, the very hardest to get right. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4588 Posts |
Well, they are the same coin as the other seated libs, just scaled down. So while a nice SL $1 is a pizza pie, the Half Dime is a little jewel. You should be able to find a really nice one in the 60-70 range with a little patience, look for the commoner dates - 1853/1854 with arrows for example. Or 1856/1857/1858... -----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Valued Member
United States
291 Posts |
I sort of lucked into my first Half Dime. I wasn't looking for one in particular, but knew I needed one for my 7070 registry type set. I had a set amount I wanted to spend at my local coin show (we don't have many opportunities to purchase coins locally), and when I asked the price and the dealer quoted a number that was substantially less that I expected, I negotiated my purchase of a nice MS66 Seated half dime and a PF66cam Liberty head nickel for my set at a nice price, Now it is one of my favorite additions to my set. I have 3 more Half Dime to complete the set, but now the seal is broken. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
807 Posts |
I have a wide variety of tiny silver coins in my collection, down to about 0.8 gram. Some of them have amazing detail visible only under a strong glass.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
And think of the skill it takes to make a piece of steel hold up to the pounding of tons of strike pressure, thousands of times. The very shape of the device sides and curves has to be perfect. It's not like coins with some tiny details; they're all tiny details.
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Pillar of the Community
798 Posts |
Would ya`ll say the same about Canadian nickels 1921 and older  Also to get exited about them just put one in your wallet and then come back hours later and pretend you got it in your change. Half Dimes or the Canadian version are cool because they are so small and so old. I also think its important to be reminded of how thin coins like these really are. And now that you got me thinking about this stuff, I want to buy more!  Coins are pleasurable and if you like them enough relieve stress as well. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5838 Posts |
I get excited about Half Dimes when I see nice examples of them online with big pictures. Every time I try to buy one in person at a show, however, they just seem too small for me to appreciate at all. The same thing with three-cent silver pieces. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
My history with SL Half Dimes started with getting one of each design for my type set. And that is 5 coins according to the NGC Registry Set: -- 1837 No Stars -- 1838-1840 Stars/No Drapery -- 1840-1853 / 1856-1859 Stars/Drapery -- 1853-1855 Arrows at Date -- 1860-1873 Legend (There are some Transitional Patterns [1859-1860] but they don't count [to me and NGC type set] since they weren't business strikes.) Then there was a long pause. Recently I got interested in SL coins with Arrows at Date. I'm sticking to XF/AU. For the Half Dime set that is 6 coins. I've got 3 so far: 1853, 1854 & 1855-O So, yes, I'm interested in Half Dimes (but not excited). |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5838 Posts |
Here's one that gets me excited (as long as I'm looking at the picture I took of it and not the coin in hand):   The detail on the face is amazing, considering how small of a coin it is. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
711 Posts |
In agreement on liking the Canadian version. I don't know why but I love digging them things out of the LCS foreign silver coffee can. The American Half Dimes are just hole fillers for me, yet I don't keep them in an album, I use 2x2's so they are in order in a red box. Half Dimes are not coins I look at often. Bust anything coins are exciting. The Seated half dime does little for me though. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
What I find interesting about Half Dimes is out of well over 100 Albums, many coins in 2x2 flips, I have none of those. I never even thought about collecting them. That is odd. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3342 Posts |
This scrappy 1846 was exciting to find  It got me interested in looking for the other key dates at shows and in shops. I've found several of those, all in better condition than the 1846, but not nearly as much fun to find. "Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
Edited by thq
05/04/2015 12:05 pm
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Moderator
United States
187702 Posts |
Quote:Can anyone tell me how I can get excited about Half Dimes? You are filling a 7070. Surly you can get excited to complete that journey.  I have five holes left in mine. I am definitely not excited for how much two of those holes will cost, but it is my price to pay for a complete album. Your price to pay is buying coins that may not really excite you.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
675 Posts |
I just made a fairly significant upgrade to my capped bust Half Dime, and am waiting for it to arrive in the mail. So, yes, I can get excited about Half Dimes! However, they are small and do require some magnification to study in great detail. I can understand how some might not be too excited by them. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
 I love Half Dimes, particularly the Liberty Seated series. It's the least expensive way to collect Liberty Seated coinage in higher grades (AU for example) and a date set is actually achievable in those grades with few exceptions (1846 comes to mind). This fact also works in lower grades, where completing an entire circulation set becomes achievable with still only a few tough dates compared to the other Liberty Seated denominations. I am currently in the process of collecting both date and circulation sets of Half Dimes. |
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Replies: 29 / Views: 3,592 |
Posted 05/03/2015 9:53 pm
