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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,478 |
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New Member
United States
7 Posts |
Hi Guys: This is my first post so if I mess [word edit because it wouldn't sound good coming from a 8 year old girl reading the forum out loud] up. Please overlook it. I have a rare dilemma. I have a US "Classic bust, 1836 - Half Cent."My problem is, all listings I have seen say that year was issued in "Proof ONLY" and one site I went to mentioned "there were restrikes" -- Not exactly helpful with no other info as to what THAT meant. After not finding any info that I deemed useful, I surmised that it probably was a counterfeit -- so I went over it with a fine tooth comb with a 10 X loupe, looking for flaws in just about everything. None found. So, I'm completely confused as to that the heck I have. Incidentally, I doubt if it would grade much better than a VG, or a "fine at the very best. If I can determine exactly what it is, THEN maybe I can get some idea of the value. It would be helpful to have a link to somewhere that I might learn more about this particular coin. Thanks, Bill L.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
Welcome to the forum The 1836 Half Cent is of the Classic head type not a Bust Half CentThe Red Book shows that the original 1836 has the same reverse as the 1831 - 1836 Half Cent. The restrike for 1836 has the reverse of the 1840 - 1857 From the pictures, it looks like the easiest way to tell the difference is the original has a line under the work "CENT" the restrike has no line. I am sure other might have more information on this .. I got this from a quick look at the Red BookEdit .. a second look I can see the rim, letters and the wreath are different on the two type .. but the "line" still is the easiest way to tell the difference Edited by GR58
06/17/2011 9:14 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
I forgot the proof question. The Red Book only shows prices for a proof version, so I am guessing both were made in only proofs. A mintage of 8,000 for the original and 17,000 for the restrike. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
Quote:
one site I went to mentioned "there were restrikes" -- Not exactly helpful with no other info as to what THAT meant a restrike usually means the coin with the same design was struck after the date on the coin. In this instance of an 1836 it could have been struck from 1837 to 2011 (not familiar with the restrikes on this series and not around any information right now) but that is basically what a restrike means, the coin wasn't minted during the original striking of the original coins but probably used the same Obverse die (with the same date) but may be paired with a different reverse die like mentioned above when describing how to tell the difference |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6381 Posts |
Hello Bill Logan, and welcome!  Proof coins were occasionally spent and end up with variable levels of circulation wear. They are still proofs but are assigned numerical grades corresponding to the level of remaining detail. A proof coin worn down to the VG level would be assigned a grade of Proof-8 or Proof-10. If genuine your coin would be still quite valuable. If it cannot be determined to be a counterfeit based on a careful examination it would be worth paying for a trip to a grading service. ANACS would likely be the best choice to determine if it is in fact a circulated proof. If you are able to attend a major coin show you can have it examined by dealers and/or representatives from the grading services and their input might help decide how to proceed. Can you post images? I'd love to see this coin! |
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New Member
 United States
7 Posts |
Yes, I can post an image. However, "She ain't pretty" --- can't tell much by viewing. I'll see if I can find the line under the "cent". From the looks of it, I'd say it had not had a lot of circulation, it probably sat somewhere (maybe buried) and deterioriated mostly. Will try and post photo shortly.
Bill
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New Member
United States
7 Posts |
Hi Jobler:
I have photos and will attempt to post them here. Not having added photos on this site, I may or may not be able to. Also, when I first got this coin about two years ago, and found no info on it, and as stated, I was suspect it was a fake, put it in a holder and forgot about it. In the last week, another collector friend has been bugging me for it so I dug it out and tonight while taking photos, I examined it again.
I noted that the coin has much less indication of 'wear' than I remembered, and also that the '6' is qute a bit larger than the other numbers. In the photo, the numbers appear to be double struck, it is misleading. Under a loupe they are not. Noted, on the obverse, no wear on the brow, cheek, and the ear appears to also have no wear. and the hair curls look good also, see no wear there either. On the reverse, the leaves of the wreath appear to be original and the knot on the bow also seems to be complete, showing no wear. And ... the mentioned line . . . under the word cent - is there. However, there is evidence the previous owner rubbed the coin to see the date better, or ? and the coin is ugly with little eye appeal. (Another reason I never got too excited about this coin)
OK! I just tried to post the photos and was unable to. Give me an e-mail address and I'll attach them to you. Maybe I can get someone to tell me how to post photos with my mail. Remember, I just joined and am green.
Bill
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
If you're having difficulty with uploading photos, you can send them to me and I'll post them. Email would be my username here, AT coincommunity.com.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
817 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
Hi Bill, If you don't take SuperDave up on his generous offer, there are a couple of tutorials you can look at for putting images in your posts. When images are hosted at Photobucket (you can make a free account): https://goccf.com/t/53146 - Photobucket looks a bit different these days but the instructions are still relevant. From the Topic Reply page (click the link "Reply to Topic" at the top or bottom of a post) there is a link to a tutorial on uploading images directly to the forum: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/...g_images.asp and to an image optimizer if you don't want to create an account at Photobucket for images over 100K in size. Let us know if you need any other help, and to the forum!  |
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New Member
United States
7 Posts |
Thanks to all of you for your help.
I will take SuperDave up on his offer so should have the photos up shortly.
Bill
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
I'm at the keyboard. Hit me up.  |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Here are the images, exactly as sent; all I did was crop to the coin.   Haven't thought much about them, yet. I'll post again in a few. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
I'm sorry to say it's a fake. It has the wrong reverse. That is the reverse of 1835 C-2. This is the reverse of the genuine 1836. Note the position of the point of the leaf below the second S in STATES, and the berry below AM  |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,478 |
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Posted 06/17/2011 5:52 pm
