E-Gobrecht, vol. 9, no. 5

2013·4 MB·English

Liberty Seated
The E-Gobrecht Collectors Club
2013 Volume9,Issue5
TheElectronicNewsletteroftheLIBERTYSEATEDCOLLECTORSCLUB
May2013(Whole#100)
AuctionNews 2
Bob Hammond
byJimGray
UpcomingLSCC 2
1942 – 2013, RIP Events
BobHammond,RIP 3
Withsadness, seepage3. Memoriesfromthe 4
First100E-Gobrecht
issues
byBillBugert
We Made It!
RegionalNews 5
byGerryFortin
This is the 100th Issue!
TheCurious 6,8
Collector
With the efforts of many, the
byLenAugsburger
E-Gobrecht is a success! QuarteroftheMonth 7
byGregJohnson
40thAnniversary 8
Update
Seestory onpage 4. byDennisFortier
MayWebsiteNews 9-
at 11
Members met at the Central States Show
www.SeatedDimeVa
rieties.com
byGerryFortin
TheLSCCmetatthe CentralStatesshow inSchaumburg,IL,on
Friday,April26. About20memberswere inattendance. Len ARotatedReverse 11
1888-SDime
Augsburger chaired the meeting intheabsenceofJohn
byJasonFeldman
McCloskey. Following member introductions, asympathycard for
ShirleyHammond wassigned byall and willbeforwarded. A sum- Discoveryof 12
New1875-SHalf
maryoftheclub medalprogramwaspresented and themedal dies
DollarDieMarriage
wereondisplayfor examination. Anexampleof the unifaceclub byScottLingo
medal, whichwillbepresented inconjunction withclub awards,
FreeAdvertising 13
wasalsoondisplay. A callfor materialwasmadefor twoupcom-
ing milestonepublications,E-Gobrecht#100 (May,2013), as well ClubInfo 14
asthe40thanniversarynumber of theGobrechtJournal(July,
2013). Attending dealer membersRichUhrich and BrianGreer
wererecognized. After themeeting,a club member exhibited a
trioofrareCarsonCityquarters,allraw,inhighcirculated grades.
TheE-GobrechtisanawardwinninginformalelectronicpublicationoftheLibertySeatedCollectorsClub(LSCC).
TheLSCCisanon-profitorganizationdedicatedtotheattributionsoftheLibertySeatedCoinseries. TheLSCCpro-
videstheinformationcontainedinthisemailnewsletterfromvarioussourcesfreeofchargeasageneralserviceto
themembershipandotherswiththisnumismaticinterest. YoudonothavetobeaLSCCmembertobenefitfromthis
newsletter;subscriptiontotheE-Gobrechtisavailabletoanyone. Alldisclaimersareineffectasthecompleteness
and/oraccuracyoftheinformationcontainedhereincannotbecompletelyverified. Contactinformationisincludedat
onthelastpage.
Page2 The E-Gobrecht
Auction News
by Jim Gray, LSCC #664
TheHeritage CSNS April Sale andanamazing$17,625. AVF251866-S soldfor
containedanumberofchoice $1,645andanAU501869-S hit $1,410.
LibertySeatedcoins for sale. An1842-OSDhalf gradedAU50was worth
An1838-Ohalfdimein AU50 $8,225andablast white MS641859-S soldfor
soldfor$3,055andAU50and $5,581. AVF251873NAopen3,but withBER
AU551840-Odraperypieces weak,still soldfor$5,288. Alovely1874-CC
went for$1,234and$1,912. AsplendidMS63 gradedAU58soldfor$11,750despiteaspot above
graded1844-Osoaredto$12,338andasmooth Liberty’s head.
AU501846soldfor$5,346. An1849-OinAU58 An1836coin-turnGobrecht dollargraded
was abargainat $1,234andanAU551853-O NA PR63soaredto$30,550andaPR60medal-turn
withtheusual weakdate realized$3,819. piecerealized$17,665. An1871-CC AU53dollar
VF301843-O and 1845-Odimes soldfor withanumberofmarks still managed$19,388 and
$1,293and$499andwell struck1858-S graded an1872-CC gradedAU50+soldfor$12,025. A well
MS63rangthebell at $18,800. struck1873-CC dollarwithsmoothsurfaces soared
VF301856-S and1857-S quarters hit $881 to$55,813. Thecost ofthethree rareCarson City
and$764. Four1859-S pieces gradedVF20,VF25, dollars is goingout ofsight.
AU50,andAU50soldfor$823,$1,175,$11,750,
Upcoming LSCC Events
May5,2013, Norwich,CT,PawcatuckValleyCoinShow, LSCC/BCCS tablebyJohnFrost
andrarities display,8:30 AM to4PM, HolidayInnMotel,10 Laura Boulevard,ChelseaRoom.
May24,2013,deadline forarticles forthe40th AnniversaryIssueoftheGobrecht Journal.
Contact clubPresident JohnMcCloskeyformore details (seelast pageofthis issue).
May29,2013,deadline foradvertisementsforthe40thAnniversaryIssueofthe Gobrecht
Journal. Contact clubPresident JohnMcCloskeyformoredetails (seelast pageofthis issue).
May30,2013,deadline forvote ontheTop10 Greatest SeatedDollars. SeeSpringmailer
fordetails andballot.
June5,2013,deadlinefornominations for LSCC officers fornext year. Contact clubPresi-
dent JohnMcCloskeyfor moredetails (seelast pageofthis issue).
June6,2013,LongBeach,CA,RockyBottom Brewery, LSCC get-togetherafterthe Long
beachExpo(seenext issuefortimeandmoredetails)
June21,2013,Baltimore,MD,WhitmanCoinandCollectibles Expo,LSCC regional meet-
ing, 9AM, room 301.
2013 Volume 9,Issue 5 (May 2013) Page3
Bob Hammond
1942 – 2013, RIP
It is withdeepsadness,wereport thepassingofBob
Hammond,age70,from amassiveandsuddenheart
attack. Bob was aproud memberofthe Liberty
SeatedCollectors Cluband,heandhis wifeShirley,
madecommonandpleasant appearances at East
Coast coinshows. Bob was always gladtoseeeve-
ryoneandshow ararecointhat hecasuallypulled
from his pocket. He will berememberedbyhis
LSCC friends as a goodfriend,forhis positiveatti-
tudeabout everything,his broadsmile,great laugh ShirleyandBobHammondatarecentBaltimoreShow
andsenseofhumor, and his knowledgeofevery-
thingrare. Bethlehem Twp; daughters, Sherri Hammondand
hercompanion, BrianWachterofEmmaus; Mary
From the LongFuneral Homewebsite,hereis an ed- Clouseandherhusband, KenofHavertown; Jean
itedversionofBob’s obituary. Deublerandherhusband,JameyofWinterHaven,
Fl.; AnneWilliams andherhusband,Nathaniel of
CWO3RobertJ.Hammond,70,ofEmmaus, passed Emmaus; brothers, Rev. DonaldHammondandhis
awaysuddenly,onMonday, April 22,2013,in Le- wife,NancyofKimberly, Idaho; Rev.Gary
highValleyHospital-CedarCrest. He was thehus- HammondofBethlehem; sister,JeanRothert (widow
bandofShirleyE.(Remaley) Hammond. Theycele- ofRobert)ofCharlotte,NC; 11grandsons,Tyler,
brated34 years ofmarriageinOctober2012. JameyJr.,Trevor, Bailey,Andrew,Ethan, Alexan-
der,William,Michael,Paul andJoshua; 3grand-
BorninFountainHill,hewas theson ofthelate Mil- daughters, Tiana, Briana andAdrianne andanother
tonT.andKathrynD. (Gaal)Hammond. Bob gradu- babydueinSeptember.
atedfrom LibertyHighSchool in1960andMora-
vianCollegein1969. Heservedhis countryinthe Funeral Services wereheldonSaturday, April 27,in
U.S.Navyfor30 years bothActiveandReserve the LongFuneral Home, Bethlehem,PA. Amemory
Duty,retiringas CWO3. Bobworkedfor Bethlehem tributemaybeplacedatwww.longfuneralhome.com.
Steel,AcmeMarkets, andmost recentlyfor22 years Contributions maybemadetoNERAof LehighVal-
inthebulkmailingdepartment at theU.S.Postal ley,P.O. Box 4265,Bethlehem 18018.
ServiceinHanoverTownship. Heattended Lehigh
ValleyBaptist ChurchinEmmaus. PA. Hewas a Wewill miss you,Bob. Rest inPeace!
memberofNavyEnlistedReserveAssociation
(NERA)of Lehigh ValleyandmanyHistorical So-
cieties inEasternPA. Bobhadaninterest inHistory
andGenealogyandwas involvedinScouting.
Survivors: inadditiontohis lovingwifeShirley; are
sons,JackHammondandhis wife,Kim ofBreinigs-
ville; Thomas Hammondandhis wife,Sarahof
Catasaqua; PhilipHammondandhis wife,Annof
Page4 The E-Gobrecht
Memories from the First 100 E-Gobrecht issues
by Bill Bugert, LSCC #455
Asthefirstandonlyeditorofthefirst100issuesoftheE- Muchtomysurpriseandtothecreditofallthe
Gobrecht,Ithoughtitisappropriatetodocumentthe contributors,theE-Gobrechtwonthe2006ANA’sOut-
background,status,andpossiblefuturefortheLSCC standingElectronicNumismaticPublicationAward(Istill
electronicnewsletter,TheE-Gobrecht. don’tknowwhonominatedit!)andagainin2008.
ClubmemberMichaelFeyactuallywasthefirst Then,publicaccesstoallpastissueswasmade
tosuggesttheideaforanelectronicclubnewsletterto possiblewhenGerryFortinpostedallpastissuesonhis
LSCCPresidentJohnMcCloskeyaftertheclub’sannual seateddimevarietieswebsite;theyarenowontheclub
meetingatthe2004PittsburghWorld’sFairofMoney. website.
BothJohnandMichaelapproachedme,statedaclub In2010andlater,theE-Gobrechthadasolid
newsletterwasagoodidea,andaskedifIknewanyone foundationwithmonthlycorecolumnsbyJimGray
whowouldbeinterestedintakingonthattask. After (AuctionNews),LenAugsburger(TheBudgetCollector,
somediscussion,Iagreedtoorganizetheeffortandtobe nowTheCuriousCollector),GerryFortin(Regional
theeditorforaperiodicelectronicnewsletterthatwould News),GregJohnson(QuarteroftheMonth),andPaul
notcompetewiththeGobrechtJournal. Inthefollowing Kluth(Q&A,SeatedPondering,andChatRoom). All
months,Istudiedotherclubelectronicnewslettersand are/weresuccessfulalthoughsubscriberparticipationwith
optedforamonthlyversion. Notknowinghowwellit Paul’sattempttoengagememberswaslessthanwehad
wouldbereceived,Istartedaccumulatingemailaddresses hoped.
fromavarietyofsourcesforamailinglist. Idecidedon In2011,Iinstitutedthe E-GobrechtEditor’s
thename,TheE-Gobrecht,inhonorourcoinage’sde- Award,givenattheLSCCannualmeeting,toacknowl-
signer. edgeprominentsupporterstotheE-Gobrecht. Greg
January2005wasthefirstissue. Strugglingwith Johnsonwasmypickfor2011andJimGrayfor2012.
contributions,Iwrotealotofthosefirstissuesandeven Todate,manyclubmembershavecontributed
missedafewmonthlyissuesforlackofcontent. TheE- witharticles. Iamgratefultoallbutespeciallythefol-
Gobrechthadthephysicalappearanceofauniversity lowing“topfive”individuals(here’sanunauditedtallyof
newspaperforthefirsttwoyearsbutitscontent,appear- numberofarticlesbyauthortoappearinthefirst100is-
ance,andappealgraduallyimprovedasIlearned. I sues):
startedgettingmorerequestsfromsubscribersandItried JimGray-90articles
toconvinceanyoneIthoughtmightbeabletohelpme GerryFortin-81articles
makeitsuccessful. LenAugsburger- 76articles
InMay2006,JimGraygraciouslyagreedtohelp GregJohnson- 37articles
mewithhis“AuctionNews”columnandithasbeentre- DennisFortier- 28articles
mendouslywellreceived. HealsofieldedLibertySeated
questions. Hiscolumnisoneofthemostpopularand Wehavebeenhoveringaround450subscribers,
continuestoday. plusorminus,forthepastfewyears.
Facingproblemswithsubscribercomplaints IhavealwayssaidIdon’thaveamonopolyon
aboutbeingabletoopentheMicrosoftWordfile,in goodideasandamopentosuggestions,comments,and/or
March2006IchangedtoaAdobepdffileformatwhich criticisms.
allowedforsimplifiedinclusionofjpegimages;most Wherearewegoingnow? AsImentioned,Iam
subscribersfindthisaccommodating. InSeptember2007, alwaysopentogoodideas. Withtheadvancementof
IchangedfromaMicrosoftWordformattoaMicrosoft powerfulelectronicdevicessuchasTabletsandsmart
Publisherdesignandchangedtheappearancetoamaga- phonesandtheportablebenefitstheyoffer,theLSCC
zinestyleformat. Thatformathascontinuedtoday maybeheadingintomoredigitalpublishingbutpaper
(althoughIhaveexperimentedwithmanydesignsover willlikelynotgoawayinthenextdecade. Digitalmedia
theyears!). Intheearlyyears,Iamverythankfulforthe isespeciallyattractiveespeciallyifwearetomaintaina
supportofrepeatauthorsJimGrayandLenAugsburger. youngermembership.
Theyborethebruntofthepublishedarticlesandlaidthe ThankstoallandIlookforwardtomanymore
groundworkformorecontent. yearsoftheE-Gobrecht.
2013 Volume 9,Issue 5 (May 2013) Page5
Regional News
by Gerry Fortin, LSCC #1054
This regional news issue is conversiontoAdobePDFformat inearly2007to
writtenwithmixedemotions. betterdeal withembeddedimages andarevised
Earlierinthemonth, Iplanned magazineformat bySeptember2007.During2010,
tocongratulate Bill Bugert on Len Augsburger,GerryFortinandGregJohnson col-
the100thE-Gobrechtissuein laboratedand addedmonthlycolumns that westill
this columnandcitesomeof enjoytoday. Moreimportantly,the E-Gobrechtbe-
thenotableefforts byBill andhis coreteam ofcon- cametheshowcase forthe LSCC’s regional meeting
tributors. Thencamethe news of BobHammond’s program Regional meetinggroupphotos have graced
passingonApril 23andthesenseof emotions asso- thecoverofmanyE-Gobrechtissues since2010
ciatedwiththeloss ofsuchafineindividual. This The LSCC is grateful to andappreciates Bill
month’s columnwill attempt todojusticetoboth Bugert’s visionandpersistenceinbuildingtheE-
andstill coverupcomingLSCC regional meeting Gobrechtintooneofthe numismaticindustry’s lead-
events. ingand award winningdigital publications.
Thepassingof BobHammondis aconsider- Finally, wediscuss upcomingregional meet-
ableloss forthe LSCC. Bobandhis always present ings. Therearenoregional meetings inMaybut
wifeShirley,werefixtures at LSCC regional meet- Junestarts anotherexcitingmonthfor clubmembers.
ings throughout theEast coast. Bob andShirley Junekicks offwiththe LongBeachCoinExpoand
woulddrivelongdistances from theirPAhometo thesecond LSCC regional meetingat theRockyBot-
Baltimore, BostonManchesterandPhiladelphiato tom BreweryonJune6evening. Thefirst meeting
attend LSCC meetings. Shirleybrought the cookies inFebruarywas a great success andCraigEberhart,
andBob gracedus withhis warm charm andperson- West Regional Director, hopes that moreclubmem-
ality. Bob was comfortablespeakingwithanyone bers orinterestedindividuals will assemblefordin-
whetheranewclubmemberormajornumismatic ner,refreshments andseatedcoinagediscussions.
personality. Hewas alovelyman andappreciated MovingbacktotheEast coast andthe LSCC’s home
seatedcoins as much as thepeopleinthecoin col- baseat Baltimore,theclubwill holdaregional meet-
lectingcommunity. Iwent backtolookat theApril ingat theWhitmanBaltimoreshowonJune21at
2013E-GobrechtBaltimoremeetingcoverphoto and typical 9:00am meetingtime. Since LenAugsburger
therewas Bobsittingnext tomewithShirleyright is unabletoattend,Bill Bugert andGerryFortinwill
behindhim. MayGodbless Bob’s soul as hewas behostingthis meetingandplanashort memorial
THErolemodel foroutstandinghumanbeing,hus- andmoment ofsilenceforBobHammondfollowed
bandand LSCC clubmember. byclubnews and aneducational presentation. Fi-
nally,the LSCC is monitoringthe activities byNew
TheMayE-Gobrecht issue(100thissue)is a England coinshowpromoter,Ernie Botteforpoten-
substantial milestoneforthe LibertySeatedCollector tial lateJunecoinshowinMaine. IfErniecan ar-
Club. ThefirstE-Gobrecht issuewas publishedin range,thenGerryFortin will host an LSCC clubta-
January2005andmarkedthe LSCC’s transitioninto bleandprobablyexhibit aportionofhis Liberty
electronicpublishing. TheinitialE-Gobrechtissues Seateddimecollection. Moreonthis possibilityin
were alaboroflovebyBill Bugert withnineissues theJuneE-Gobrecht.
beingpublishedduringtheinitial year. Jim Gray
first launchedhis AuctionNews columnintheApril
2006issue.Thepublishingformat evolvedwitha
Page6 The E-Gobrecht
The Curious Collector
by Len Augsburger, LSCC #1271
A LibertySeated cent? interestedintryingout different alloys, andinhaste
Yes, Virginia,thereis neglectedthepolishing. Evenonmoderncoinage,
suchathing. In1853,the lathelines aresometimes seen- Ihavea1996-D
Mint got theideathat dif- Lincolncent pulledout ofcirculationwhichdemon-
ferent compositions might strates theeffect, althoughtobesureit is muchless
beusedforlarge cents, pronouncedthanonthe1854cent pattern. Among
andthat perhaps thelarge,heavycoppers couldbe LibertySeatedcoinage,theScott Confederatehalf
replacedwithsomethingmoremanageable. The dollarrestrikes (executed in1879using1861half
Mint began experimentingwithGermansilver,a dollars)frequentlycome withevidenceoflathe
combinationofcopper,nickel,andzinc. Thealloy lines, althoughthis is thought tohaveoccurred
has apassable resemblancetosilver,but inreality whenScott groundoffthereverses ofthe coins be-
contains nosilverat all. Patterncents werepro- forerestrikingthem with his ownreverse(which
ducedin1853and1854 withvaryingpercentages of was areproductionofthe Confederatehalfdollar).
copper,nickel andzinc.The1854editionis theone
ofinterest to LibertySeatedcollectors. Theobverse The LibertySeated cent has always in-
forthis patternwas createdbyreducingan1854 trigued me, andwhenthe opportunitypresentedit-
seateddollarviaportrait lathe. selftopurchaseanexampleintherecent Heritage
Newmansale, Icouldnot resist. As manyare
Theportrait lathetraced the1854dollar aware,EricP.Newmanis a101-yearoldSt. Louis
withastylus movingina circular fashionaroundthe collectorandnumismatic scholar. Portions ofthe
coin. This designwas thentransferredontothepat- Newmancollectionaretobeauctionedoffinase-
terncent die,withthe circularlathelines imparted ries ofsales, the first of whichwas heldbyHeritage
as well. Inpractice,thelathelines wouldbepol- at therecent Central States showinSchaumburg, IL.
ishedout onthedie,leavingnotraceoftherepro- Newman's exploits arefartooextensivetosumma-
duction. Inthis particularcase,theMint was more rizehere,but forstarters Iwill mentionthat he
(Continuedonpage8)
2013 Volume 9,Issue 5 (May 2013) Page7
Quarter of the Month
by Greg Johnson, LSCC #1460
The1854-OHugeOis probably two years. Thelargemajorityof certified examples
themost obvious, andoneofthe areinlower grades, withonly9ofthe67PCGS
most popular, LibertySeated coins inXF,2inAU,andstill nomint stateexam-
Quartervarieties. Longrecog- ples known.
nizedandlistedintheRedbook,
it has beenassignedPCGS Coin PhotoCourtesyofHeritage.
#5434. Theextremelylargeandmisshapenmint-
markmakes the1854-O HugeO,a “naked eye”vari-
etywithauniqueappearancethat has undoubtedly
contributedtoits popularity,even amongst those
whodon’t considerthemselves quartercollectors. At
current pricelevels examples are continuouslyavail-
ableinthemarket placeingrades from VGtoVF;
examples betterthanVF appearinfrequently.
The1854-OHugeOis veryscarce,but not
rarebyseatedquarterstandards. Atotal of12exam-
ples were reportedinthe 1993 LSCC survey,14in
the2007survey,and32inthe2013Top25Seated
Quarter VarietySurvey(expectedtobepublishedin
theFallGobrecht Journal). Therecognitionand
popularityofthevarietymakes it possibletolookat
somehistoryofpricing, withthehelpofBob Foster,
whopublishedrarityanalyses oftheseatedquarters
intheGobrecht Journalin2000 (Issue#78),2005
(Issue#93), and2007(Issue#100). Hespecifically
focusedontheissue and commentedregardingits
pricinginthe first twoarticles. Mr.Foster ranked
the1854-OHuge Oas thethirdmost underrated
seatedquarterin2000withCoin WorldTrends
prices of$90inGood,$350inVF,and$750inXF.
Five years laterthoseprices hadincreasedto$600in
Good,$3,000inVF,and $5,000inXF. Today’s
1854-O HugeO QuarterDollar
(2013)prices are $900inGood$4,500inVF,and
$7,500inXF.
It is also interestingtolookat recent certifi-
cationhistory. There were41pieces certifiedinall
grades byPCGS andNGC combinedin2007,that
numberhadincreasedto 77(43at PCGS and34at
NGC)by2011, andnow stands at 108(67at PCGS
and41at NGC). Approximatelyonenewexample
permonthhas been certifiedat PCGS overthepast
Page8 The E-Gobrecht
40th Anniversary Update
by Dennis Fortier, LSCC #2016
Fellowmembers, ourtaskis complete. The LSCC’s burger, Bill Bugert, and GerryFortin)forall their
40thAnniversarymedals havebeendistributedtoall hardwork anddedication. Nowwhat remains is the
whoorderedone. It was alonghaul tothefinish line 40thAnniversaryeditionoftheGobrecht Journal.
but well worthit. Iwant tothanks myfellowmem- Pleasehelpmakeit amemorableoneandsubmit a
bers ofthe40thAnniversarycommittee(LenAugs- storyor anarticleformembers toenjoy.
mat pieceincopperwouldworkjust as well,andso
(Continuedfrompage6)
the1856flyingeaglecents werebornshortlythere-
ownedall five1913nickels at onetime,andit was after. Tobesure,the coinagewas debased, witha
fittingthat duringthefirst Newmansale,oneofthe smalleramount ofmetal representingthesameface
1913nickels, theGeorge O.Waltonexample,was on value - governments are goodat suchthings - the
displayintheauctionroom. TheWaltoncoinwas LibertySeatedsilver coinage,in1853,hadof course
soldintheHeritagePlatinum night sessionimmedi- also beenreducedinweight. Nevertheless,the Ger-
atelyfollowingthesaleoftheNewman coins. Rep- mansilverexperiments of1853and1854leaveus
resentatives oftheWaltonfamilywerein attendance, withacuriosityinthe LibertySeatedseries, a coin
andeverythingwas brought full circlewhen a that tells astoryabout thetechnical productionof the
Waltonfamilymemberbidon,andwon,oneofthe Mint inmid-19thcentury.
Newmancoins (an1883 patternnickel). Ifthere was
anyanxietyabout settlingthe auctionbill,it quickly
became anon-issueas minutes laterthe1913sold
forastrong$3,172,500!
Backtothe1854 cent,theseofcoursenever
caught on,andtheMint decidedthat asmallerfor-
2013 Volume 9,Issue 5 (May 2013) Page9
May Website News at
www.SeatedDimeVarieties.com
by Gerry Fortin, LSCC #1054
Duetoaconsultingbusiness triptoChinaduringApril,therehas beenconsiderableeveningtimetoadd
newmodules tomywebsiteincludingmore content forthe LibertySeated dimevarieties web-book. Inthis
E-Gobrechtarticle, Idiscuss arecent set buildingaccomplishment andintroducetwonew website modules;
BasicVarieties Comparisonand Top25Misplaced DateVarietiesmodules developedinthepast 30 days
Seated DimeSetBuildingRecognition
Beforewestart thenew modulediscussion,April 2013sawanimportant milestonefor Liberty
Seateddimevarietycollecting. Dr.Tim Cook,anadvanced LibertySeated dimevarietyspecialist,com-
pletedhis Top25ShatteredDies set viathe additionofthreemissinglistings. Most important amongthe
threeis Tim’s abilitytolocatean1852 F-110aexampleinEF45 grade. The1852F-110avarietyfrom the
web-bookis shownbelow. Theobversedieis severelycrackedat thebottom ofthedate. Themetal area
betweenthebottom ofdatedigits anddenticles is raisedandelevatedas comparedtoremainderof fieldsur-
face. Theright sideofdieis also badlycracked. Asignificant diecrackstarts at Liberty's head,thendown
throughStar8,the cap andremainderofstars intotherim. Can youimaginehowspectacular anEF45ex-
amplewouldappear? Congratulations toDr.Tim Cookonlocatingahigh grade1852 F-110a exampleand
completingtheTop25ShatteredDies set.
1852F-110aShattered DieVariety
(Continuedonpage10)
Page 10 The E-Gobrecht
(Continuedfrompage9)
BasicVarieties Comparison Module
Duringearly2013,IreceivedcorrespondencefromSanFranciscoareacollector,TonyBarreca,suggest-
ingthatIaddanewlinktotheSeateddimewebsitethatillustratedbasicvarietiesthatwereoftenmisattributed
oneBay. AfterstudyingLibertySeateddimelistingsoneBayforthepastyear,Tonynotedagenerallackof
sellerexperiencewithcertainvarietiesresultinginafairnumberoferroneouslistingsthatcoulddeceivenovice
collectors. Inexchangeforcreatinganillustratedguideforbasicvarieties,Tonypromisedtosteertheseinexpe-
riencesellerstomywebsiteforguidance. Afterafewemailexchangestoreachconsensusonthevarietylist
andillustrationformat,theBasicVarietiesComparisonmodulewasconstructed. Thismodulecanbeviewedat
http://www.seateddimevarieties.com/Basic_Varieties.htm. Themoduleprovidessidebysidecomparisonsofthe
featuredvarietyagainstthemorecommoncounterpart. Forexample,eBaysellersstillhavedifficultwith1838
LargeandSmallStarslistings. Tohelpthoseindividuals,theBasicVarietiesComparisonlinkprovideslarge
obverseimagesof1838LargeStarsand1838SmallStarsdimesalongwithmacroimagesofthestarpunches.
Shownbelowisanothertypicalproblemarea;the1873NoArrowsClosed3versusOpen3varietiesandtheil-
lustrationformatemployed.
1873NoArrows
Closed vs. Open 3Obverse
Closed 3Obverse Open 3Obverse
(Continuedonpage11)