1861-O Half Dollar Attribution

It doesn't look like it has any of the 3 die markers for the CSA issue.

http://107.21.32.92/index.php/seate...lars-1861-o/

My WB-104 should be back from the ANACS insider free grading special on Wednesday

I thought I found a WB-102 on ebay but when I got it the nose crack was only in the toning

http://coins.ha.com/itm/confederate.../1216-5847.s

"As things turned out, the New Orleans Mint struck coins under the auspices of three different governments in 1861. From January 1 to January 26, the mint remained under federal control and a total of 330,000 Seated Liberty half dollars and 5,000 Liberty double eagles was coined. The State of Louisiana assumed control of the mint from January 26 through March 31, and a coinage of 1,240,000 half dollars and 9,750 double eagles was accomplished. Finally, the Confederacy officially took over the facility on April 1, and struck 962,633 half dollars and 2,991 double eagles before closing the mint on April 30, 1861"

I wish I would have saved the ebay sellers pic which showed what looked like the crack.

Scropper- can you let me know what you're seeing that I don't? It is pretty smooth where I thought the crack would be. Are there other indicators? thanks

I don't see any die cracks on the reverse, but don't really know where to look. Are the various dies illustrated online anywhere? I'm usually good at finding stuff on the internet but with this I've had no luck. Thanks

Having cherried a few of these, myself, over the years, I agree with Chevelle's comments. That said, looking closely at the field, I can see a feint line, perhaps a scratch or toning effect, which caused me to do a double-take. I wouldn't totally rule out the possibility that this coin is PERHAPS an early die state of the WB-102; this, in deference to Rusty's eye. There's no evidence of the crack impacting the bridge of the nose.

I erred yesterday. I was looking at the wrong coin. (The OP coins were not showing up) Today the OP coin pictures are showing. The coin has a level date which indicates obv 3 or 6. (The CSA half dollar used obv 5) Obv 3 was used by both Louisiana and the Confederacy, obv 6 by just the Confederacy. Obv 6 almost always comes with a vertical crack bisecting the date between the 8 and 6. I don't see that on your coin so it is probably obv 3. I do't see a crack through stars 9 -12 on the obv, and I don't see a strong Longacre doubling halo around the eagles left wing so I think this is probably W-09 (Obv 3 rev B) which would make it struck by the Confederacy and struck before they made the CSA half dollar. (The WB book only describe the most noticeable varieties WB-101 was a "catch all" number that covered ten different varieties, 102 was for the obv that was paired withthe CSA die, but that obverse was also used before it cracked and those would have been included in the 101 variety. 103 and 104 are easily attributable varieties and were both struck by the Confederacy. 103 is actually two varieties Obv 6 with the vertically bisected date paired with rev E, and with rev F the speared berry rev. 104 is also two varieties, one of which is also 103. It is the speared berry rev rev E paired wth obv 6 the bisected date, and obv 1 which was originally used by the Union. 103 and 104 are now listed as W-13, 14, and 15.)

I'm not saying your coin was cracked, but I noticed that there are marks exactly where the crack would be, which I found interesting.

I overlaid the image of your coin over my cracked CSA and an example from the PCGS website, as well as a few of the other obverses. Everything aligned perfectly with the cracked CSAs, so it seemed to me it's either a 102 or as Conder101 said, a pre-cracked 101. Didn't check the reverse. A few things were out of alignment with the other obverse dies I checked against.

By the Confederacy, after LA joined. And it is NOT the die they used for the CSA half dollar. If you use WB numbers it would be a WB-101. Using Wiley numbers (f I am right) it is W-09 and was the first variety that the Confederacy struck. (The Union struck 2 varieties, LA struck 6, and the Confederacy struck 6.)