in a Dansco album. The large cent project is now winding down. What are the "must have" references for Half Cents? How common are counterfeits? Are there any lesser known rarities? Thanks!
Half Cent have a long run from 1793-1857, although there are several years and stretches of years when none were struck. Will you hit the entire run? There are few dates along the way that are near impossible to find. 1796, 1831 are examples. Some dates have no mint struck business strikes but have restrikes that were struck later. The Cohen reference is an excellent guide to the issuance.
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website:https://fairfaxcoins.com
One of the most important is - Ron Manley's " Half Cent Die States", very hard to get and out of print, last copy I sold brought over $225.00
Bill Eckberg - "The Half Cent, 1793-1857" released in 2022
The latest is a multi part book set by Ed Fuhrman and is up to 5 volumes now. His latest is on grading.
* The Half Cent Handbook: Liberty Cap Varieties 1793-1797 * The Half Cent Handbook: Draped Bust Varieties 1800-1808 * The Half Cent Handbook: Classic & Braided Varieties 1809-1857 * The Half Cent Handbook: Errors and Oddities * The Half Cent Handbook: The Ultimate Grading Guide
You can reach Ed via email at: guitarman68@optonline.net
There was a great pocket reference (out of print) - A Quickfinder for Attributing Varieties of Business Strike Half Cents 1793-1857 (2nd Edition) Gregory S. Heim
There are a few more great references but this is the most current list of what I believe the top collectors would have in their library today.
Can't forget the must have Goldberg Auction catalog of the top Half Cent collection ever built by Eric Newman's brother-in-law, R. Tettenhorst (Tett) sold it on January 26, 2014 - The only complete and the highest graded set ever. It brought record prices, beyond record prices actually. Just amazing, the catalog in Hardbound goes for over $400 I've been trying to get a copy since before the sale with no luck (they sold out early and I stupidly waited until the week of the sale to try and place an order for one), the regular softbound copies still bring $50+ when they are found, the "Super-Delux Editions" sell for over $5K each.
Jim McGuigan just passed away and he had another amazing collection sold by Heritage Auctions, Look for his catalog too.
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Elmer I see you don't accept emails here at CCF, but if you drop me an e-mail I will send you some items I think will be beneficial to your quest, no obligation at all.
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector.
Thought I'd throw up some good videos on Half Cents as there are one of my favorite US coins as well (must be due to the fact the Two Cents pieces are the same diameter - 26mm) , enjoy!
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector.
There is another excellent reference which probably hasn't been mentioned because many people are offended by the authors personal life. The Encyclopedia of United States Half Cents by Walter Breen. Personally I like it better than Cohen's book, and it also tends to be more available.
US Half Cents are currently my #1 interest area. I'm collecting them by variety.
The newest Half Cent reference that I know of are the three volumes by Ed Fuhrman. The three volumes are collectively titled The Half Cent Handbook. Vol 1 -- Liberty Cap (1793-1797) published in 2022 Vol 2 -- Draped Bust (1800-1808) published in 2020 Vol 3 -- Classic Head & Braided Hair published in 2021
I also have The Half Cent Die State Book 1793-1857 by Ronald P. Manley published in 1998.
Between the two I can generally ID the variety of any US Half Cents if they are in reasonably good shape. The Liberty Cap series can be tough because they are often well worn.
Thanks Condor101 I really missed not including the Breen Half Cent book, it's really good and was my first serious Half Cent book I got for my own library. Another good one is Michael Demling's Half Cent Quickfinder book in large spiral bound and hardbound as well as a small "show sized" edition.
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector.
Even though I don't have a single 1/2 cent yet, I will keep this topic for myself for the future. Thank you all for the wonderful links. I like Tettenhorst's "step by step" advice. Buy what you like and what you can afford. Interestingly, in his time, 1/2 cent was cheaper than 1 cent. I think it's the opposite now.
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Posted 08/06/2023 5:33 pm
, enjoy!
