I reached a long awaited milestone

[JTO]

I have always had my eye on reaching 1 million points but never really thought I would get there.

 

I have a strong predilection for New Orleans coinage. So it seems fitting that the coin the put me over 1 million point mark was a New Orleans issue. I have been looking for this coin in and circulated condition for the past 8-10 years. After careful analysis of auction records there are probably less than 20 truly Mint State examples in the market. Many have come to the auction block multiple times; they have had hammer prices for MS-62 examples range from $4500 to > $10, 000.

The 1838--O half dime was, potentially, the very first circulating coin to be produced by the new Branch Mint in New Orleans. For whatever reason, it appears that unlike many other first issue coins, this one was not saved or set aside. This may be because concurrently there was the 1838--O dime. It had both a larger mintage as well as being the larger coin. Because the designs are essentially identical it might of made sense to save the dime and not worry about saving any examples of the half dime.

Regardless of the reason the 1838-O half dime is rare in any grade but particularly uncommon in Mint State condition. I've lost this coin at auction more times and I care to remember, has the bidding rose above my comfort zone. This time I put in my bid on Heritage Live and walked away for the computer. When I could wait no longer I found that not only had I won the coin but for the reserve, that was less that the last time it changed hands. I have added it to my custom New Orleans issue type set. And, by adding it to my feeble half dime set it bumped my overall point total over the 1 Mil mark.

As a self-admitted coin nerd I know that this must seem pretty sad that something like this would register as an actual milestone for me. But there you have it, in all my nerd glory, what a coin!

 

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[wheat'swheats]

NICE

[Six Mile Rick]

John,

Those are some SWEET sets you have. Nice Indian cent set and many 1800's era sets including the 1795 mint set.

 

Rick

[Electric Peak]

Nice pick up! I was looking at that coin too. It's a makes a nice contrast to my MS62, which is from a late die state that was severely deteriorated, making the lower obverse appear very indistinct. I got mine from a dealer at a recent Baltimore show for about the same price. I just couldn't justify that kind of expense again right now for what some would call a duplicate. Enjoy it!

 

Alan

[World_Coin_Nut]

That's awesome. I don't have any hope of getting there myself but I truly appreciate your accomplishment. Nice coin also.

[Lucky One]

nice find and congrats my friend, I share your joy in the hobby!

[jackson64]

Congrats. One million points is an amazing achievement.

As a side note, I am a bit concerned about the overall descending trend of coin values. While the mega coins in the 5 figure plus range have continued their trajectory with the uber-rich and mildly rich having no issue buying----the $5,000 to $500 dollar coins usually purchased by upper middle and middle/middle americans are plummeting in value. I have seen the high grade walkers I collect drop from $1000 for common date but high grade coins down to $400-500. Other dates and series have seen similar precipitous drops as coins that cost $1000 to $2000 just 10 years ago can now be purchased for hundreds.

 

My theory for this is...........The middle class is truly under the strain and more are dropping back and losing ground, hence, disposable income for hobbies is drying up. True inflation is at 7 to 10% for the daily needs of life yet incomes are stagnant or dropping. Fewer dollars in our pockets and those dollars have less purchasing power Many of us have seen 25 to 75% increases in our health insurance costs--electricity, cable, cell phones, food--all sucking away the coin budgets.

 

If one can still allow themselves a "coin budget" then now is definitely the time to find some deals and those coins which were "out of our price range" prior. With less competition for the items and stagnant dealer stocks and dealers not adding mid-grade stuff to their inventories, there are definitely deals to be had.

[ILJC#70]

Congratulations! I passed the milestone late last year but did not realize it until a few weeks after the fact. Moving up the overall ranking list gets a little challenging at this point as the gaps between collectors expand.

[Walkerfan]

One Million points is an amazing accomplishment---I can't even imagine.

 

Beautiful Seated Half Dime!!

 

Congrats all the way around!!!