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AN 1809 HALF DOLLAR OVERSTRIKE ERROR
I've never seen this mint error before and I suspect many readers haven't. It is simply one of the most visually impressive U.S. errors I've ever seen in 58 yrs collecting. It may interest E-Sylum readers. Gad, two 1809 dates! I wonder who owns it?
I was also impressed by this piece. I'd never seen it, either. Amazing. I asked JR Newsletter Editor Richard Meaney about it,
and his response is below. Thanks! -Editor
Each week, I try to "headline" the JR Newsletter with a pretty, interesting, or pretty AND interesting coin. I decided to search through the Russ Logan collection (as sold by Bowers and Merena in 2002) for a neat coin. That's when I saw the amazing 1809 as lot 2237. Bowers and Merena cataloged the item (which appears to have sold for $13,000) as follows: Double Struck with 90° rotation between impressions. Natural deep gray surfaces with steel blue toning. The devices are lighter gray. We have examined this double struck half dollar very carefully, and have not been able to conclude which of the two strikes came first. Virtually all of the design from each strike is visible on both obverse and reverse, with much of this detail overlapping from one strike to the next. The two strikes appear exactly identical with regard to die characteristics with one exception. On one of the two strikes, the digit 8 has a very small lump attached to the upper edge of the cross-stroke, inside the upper loop. The other strike does not show this feature. This may be simply an additional artifact from the opposite strike. Purchased April 14, 1992 from Stewart Witham. Those who are interested in seeing the Logan collection online can go to http://rob.com/russ/collection/index.html . The 1809 catalog description is found through this link: http://rob.com/russ/collection/2237.html . Once at the Logan collection website, clicking on the camera icon next to each coin's brief description will open a new window with images and the catalog description. I have found this website to be an invaluable research and learning tool. To read the complete JR Newsletter issue, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor 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 To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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