1837 50c Die Marriage

[planman2014]

It absolutely kills me that Overton did not include 37-39 Capped half dollars. I could not tell you a darn thing about any of the die marriages of that year.

 

Does anybody have a good source for those 3 years?

 

 

[BillJones]

Overton left them off because they represented a new era. The half dollar from 1794 to mid 1836 had been struck on an open collar and the edge lettering was added in a separate step. Starting with the Reeded Edge 1836 half dollars, the coins were struck with a close collar that imprinted the reeded at the same time as the obverse and reverse were struck.

 

Many years ago the late Jules Reiver gave me a copy of his booklet on the Capped Bust, Reeded Edge half dollars. Things got really technical down to the number of reeds that were around the edge. Counting those would be beyond tedious.

[DWLange]

The 1837-39 Bust Halves are challenging to attribute, but the Graham-Reiver book published about three years ago is very well written and illustrated. I believe it sold out, and I don't know whether any copies remain available.

 

I have Jules Reiver's old monograph that Bill alluded to, and I agree that it's too tedious to attribute the coins with that guide. The new GR book is the way to go.

 

NGC's VarietyPlus website has most of these coins illustrated, too:

 

https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-varieties/half-dollars/reeded-edge-half-dollar-die-varieties-vscid-25/

[physics-fan3.14]

The Riever pamphlet is very difficult to use, but I suffered through it for quite a while.

 

The Graham book published a few years ago is excellent. It sold out very quickly, of course, but you can sometimes find copies at numismatic booksellers.

[RWB]

I have the GR book and it is easy to use and very well done. Finding a copy will be difficult, though.