Seated Liberty Half Dollar Curiosity....

Quote:
"Halos" can often be found around the stars, digits in the date, arrowheads, and often around the central devices (see photo at right). Sometimes unofficially called "Longacre doubling," a term coined by J.T. Stanton and inappropriately applied by others to Liberty Seated coinage designed by Christian Gobrecht, it is the doubling often seen on coins designed by James B. Longacre. This doubling is a secondary image of the design appearing on all sides of a design element. Although various theories abound as to what caused this doubling, this doubling is commonly found on half dollars of many dates and is not and should not be confused with doubled dies and repunched dates. I believe this doubling was caused when the temporary master die was heavily impressed with all the design elements such that a halo became part of the temporary master die. Consequently, these halos transferred to the working hub, subsequent working dies, and finally the half dollars themselves.