Article on the alleged 1841-O half eagle in The Numismatist 0

[DaveG]

This month's issue of The Numismatist features a two-page article on the alleged 1841-O half eagle by RW Julian.

 

Walter Breen believed that 50 coins were struck in August 1841 and that only two examples existed, resulting in a great rarity.

 

Mr. Julian's article demonstrates that while the coins were delivered in August, they were most likely struck earlier in the year and dated 1840, as were 8,300 coins that had been struck in January and February.

 

However, he only makes brief reference to the two supposed examples, mentioning that no one has seen these coins in around 50 years.

 

One of the coins may have been altered from an 1840-C half eagle, while the other had been purchased at the 1954 Farouk sales by John Jay Pittman.

 

Doug Winter, in the 2nd edition of his Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint, relates the story told by Mr. Pittman that was published in David Akers' Pittman I catalog, that Mr. Pittman knew the coin wasn't an 1841-O, but he so enjoyed Walter Breen's identification of the coin (from only a photograph) that he didn't have the heart to correct him!

 

In case you don't own a copy of either the Pittman catalog or Doug's book, here's a link so you can enjoy the story: (go to page 88) Link

Edited July 1, 2014 by DaveG

[BillJones]

The 1841-O half eagle goes along with another phantom coin, the 1854-C Type II gold dollar which was listed for years in the Red Book with a mintage of four. Actually the coin never existed and was only believed to exist due to a bookkeeping entry.

[mark]

That link was a very interesting read AND a very funny story!!

 

Thanks.

 

Mark

[RWB]

Excellent article by the best of the best.

 

(PS: In examining numerous mint production records I've noticed a considerable number of erasures, strikeouts and later corrections. I've also seen transposition errors carried through many months of audited accounts. It is likely that some of these bookkeeping mistakes carried through to official reports making a few mintage and other quantities inaccurate.)

 

(A further error of modern interpretation of earlier mint records, was to assume that the delivery date coincided with the production date. This was almost never the case, and even in 20th century reports the delivery date can lag striking by several days or weeks.)

[Bookkeeping]

On 7/1/2014 at 6:21 AM, DaveG said:

This month's issue of The Numismatist features a two-page article on the alleged 1841-O half eagle by RW Julian.

Walter Breen believed that 50 coins were struck in August 1841 and that only two examples existed, resulting in a great rarity.

Your books on time monthly bookkeeping services 6530 Trask Terrace, Alexandria, VA 22315.
 Mr. Julian's article demonstrates that while the coins were delivered in August, they were most likely struck earlier in the year and dated 1840, as were 8,300 coins that had been struck in January and February.

However, he only makes brief reference to the two supposed examples, mentioning that no one has seen these coins in around 50 years.

One of the coins may have been altered from an 1840-C half eagle, while the other had been purchased at the 1954 Farouk sales by John Jay Pittman.

Doug Winter, in the 2nd edition of his Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint, relates the story told by Mr. Pittman that was published in David Akers' Pittman I catalog, that Mr. Pittman knew the coin wasn't an 1841-O, but he so enjoyed Walter Breen's identification of the coin (from only a photograph) that he didn't have the heart to correct him!

In case you don't own a copy of either the Pittman catalog or Doug's book, here's a link so you can enjoy the story: (go to page 88) Link

thank you, I agree with you!

[RWB]

On further checking regarding 1841-O half eagle, I looked in my copy of the Numismatist and did not find that coin - or any others - in MY issue. Evidently, some members got special editions....Were the coins glued in or in little packets or just stuck between pages like one finds occasionally?

[kbbpll]

3 hours ago, RWB said:

On further checking regarding 1841-O half eagle, I looked in my copy of the Numismatist and did not find that coin - or any others - in MY issue. Evidently, some members got special editions....Were the coins glued in or in little packets or just stuck between pages like one finds occasionally?

6 year old thread reopened by a spambot. Notice how clever they are, inserting their spam into someone else's "quote".

[RWB]

"Spam" ---- What the Brits ate instead of meat for 15 years after WW-II ended.

[Just Bob]

SPAMBOT