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V17 2014 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 31, July 27, 2014, Article 16

"CONFEDERATE" 1861-O HALF FOUND IN KENNEDY ROLL

Here's a story of another nice roll find. Whoda thunk it was still possible? -Editor

1861-O half dollar die-break You never know what you’ll get when you sort a roll of coins. One lucky man in New Orleans got the find of a lifetime. He found a very special 1861-O Seated Liberty half-dollar hiding in a roll of Kennedy half-dollars.

After undergoing knee surgery, this unnamed coin collector decided to sort through rolls of Kennedy half-dollars to pass the time while recovering. He was looking for silver half-dollars, because if they were minted before 1964, they would be worth more than fifty cents. Some of them, a lot more. In the past, he’d had a lot of luck finding coins that he could turn around and sell for a profit. But never like this. The 1861-O Seated Liberty half-dollar he found is valuable not only for its age, rarity, and silver content, but for its history as well.

The coin he found was minted in New Orleans during the Civil War. Unlike other Seated Liberty half-dollars from the New Orleans mint, this coin was produced while the mint was under Confederate control. Coin experts determined this by a unique die break on the obverse side of the coin.

Incredibly, that wasn’t the only find he made. In one of his last rolls of JFK half-dollars, the collector discovered an 1869-O Barber half-dollar! Unfortunately, this piece was far more damaged and not as rare, making it less valuable. Still, it’s a pretty good score for the price of a roll of half-dollars.

At one time I owned one of these coins with the telltale die break, as part of my Civil War numismatics collection, which also included a Scott restrike of the Confederate Half. I noticed the variety right away, even without the convenient red arrow in the illustration. Nice find! -Editor

To read the complete article, see: Rare Silver Coin Found in Roll of Half Dollars (www.wscbrc.com/archives/rare-silver-coin-roll-dollars)

THE BOOK BAZARRE

BE PART OF SOMETHING HUGE! The first two volumes of the new Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money debuted at the Memphis International Paper Money Show. Volume 1 is an introduction for the collector and historian; volume 2 covers Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire. New volumes are in the works! If you collect New England, the Southern states, the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic, or territories, contact Dennis Tucker at obsoletes@whitman.com to join Whitman’s pricing panels, share photos, review histories, or otherwise volunteer for this monumental project.


Wayne Homren, Editor

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The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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