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Liberty Seated The E-Gobrecht Collectors Club 2010 Volume6,Issue12 TheElectronicNewsletteroftheLIBERTYSEATEDCOLLECTORSCLUB December2010(Whole#71) Large attendance at the Baltimore AuctionNews 2 byJimGray LSCC Regional Meeting UpcomingSeated Events 2 Questionofthe Month 3 byPaulKluth TenRulesforAvoid- ingSeatedLiberty 4 Fakes ByCharlesSullivan RegionalNews 5,9 ByGerryFortin TheBudgetCollec- tor: 6,8 EighthinaSeries ByLenAugsburger QuarteroftheMonth 7,9 byGregJohnson Attendees (at least most ofthem)at theNovember2010Baltimore clubmeeting UpdateonLast 9 Month’sPleaforHelp At least twentyfourmembers and LSCCWebsiteand guests attendedtheNovemberre- Contemporary 10- gional meetingofthe LSCC at the CounterfeitModule 13 Update BaltimoreWhitmanCoinand byGerryFortin CurrencyConvention. RichUhrichandRandyWiley Advertisements 14 gave great presentations and Clubinformation 15 RandyWileyfinallyreceivedhis James B.Pryor NumismaticRe- search Awardplaque(photoat right)forhis twopart series onthe diemarriages ofthe1861-Ohalf dollar. RandyWiley(at right)finallyreceives his Completedetails ofthemeet- James B.PryorResearch Awardfrom ingareincludedonpage 5ofthis LSCC VP Bill Bugert issue. TheE-GobrechtisatwiceawardwinningelectronicpublicationoftheLibertySeatedCollectorsClub(LSCC). The LSCCisanon-profitorganizationdedicatedtotheattributionsoftheLibertySeatedCoinseries. TheLSCCprovides theinformationcontainedinthisemailnewsletterfromvarioussourcesfreeofchargeasageneralservicetothe membershipandotherswiththisnumismaticinterest. YoudonothavetobeaLSCCmembertobenefitfromthis newsletter;subscriptiontotheE-Gobrechtisavailabletoanyone. Alldisclaimersareineffectasthecompleteness and/oraccuracyoftheinformationcontainedhereincannotbecompletelyverified. Contactinformationisincludedat theend. Page2 The E-Gobrecht Auction News by Jim Gray, LSCC #664 TheStack’s75thAnniversary 1872-S inMS63soaredto$20,700,whileaproblem Salefeaturedan1872-CC dime free1873-CC inF15hit astrong$9,879. inAU55withOFAME miss- An1842-Osmall datehalfwithagoodstrike ing. This coinhad appearedin andnicetoningand gradedXF45soldfor$3,565. aHeritageSaleinAugust and Anattractive1852halfinMS64soldfor$4,945, soldfor$17,250. Icheckedthe whilealovelyalbum toned1852-Ointhesame computerandtheowner ofthecoinontheHeritage gradewent foranimpressive$12,650. Two1866-S websitesaid,“Makeanoffer.” This coindidnot sell nomottos inVF20andF15soldfor$1,305and intheStacks Auctionandit is anabsolutejokethat $920,respectively. Three1872-CCs were auctioned. this coinis inanAU55holder. Thefirst was anicelytonedAU55for$5,882,the An1878-CC halfdollarinMS64,ex- next was acleaned AU50 for$1,725,andthethird Norweb,withsomedark areas onthelowerobverse was anatural grayin F15 for$365. Anoriginal andavertical darkstreak onthereversethroughthe 1874-CC inAU55soldfor$7,764. An1878-S with eagle’s neck,still soldforanimpressive$32,200. G4details, but cleaned andporous still managed An1851original DollarinMS62that was $12,765. This datealways brings impressiveprices. well struckandmark free withlight hairlines defin- Awell-struck1855DollarinMS61soldfor ingthe gradesoaredtoanamazing$46,000. $6,900,whileaflatlystruck1856inMS62went for The Bowers &Merena BaltimoreSalefea- $4,493. turedan1838-Odimein AU55for$1,150. AU50 An1857DollarinMS64that was well struck andXF401844dimes soldfor$1,208and$719,re- andbeautifullytonedwent foranamazing$25,875. spectively. Anice1846 dimeinXF45went for This coinwas gradedMS63inmysaleandsoldfor $2,335,whileaVGcleaned1874-CC dimehit $7,475. It is mindbogglingthat ten cents worthof $6,325. plasticandsix years can makeacoinworth3½ Two1859-S quarters, bothinXF40,thelatter times its previous value. beingcleaned,soldfor$4,025and$1,265,respec- Alight gray1872-CC inVF30and anice tively. Aniceoriginal 1867-S inVF30went for coinwent for$7,475,whilean1873-CC withVF $1,811,whilean1870-CC withfinedetails but al- details, but cleaned andtonedbackstill managed teredsurfaces still managed$7,188. Asplendid $8,338. Upcoming Seated Events Now Club yearlyduesdue;$20to theLSCCSecretary/Treasurer January7,2011 Tampa,FLWinter FUN Friday,9AM,locationTDB. (LSCCRegionalmeeting) February4,2011 Long Beach,CA Show (Datemaychange!) Friday, Time and locationTDB. (LSCCRegionalmeeting) 2010 Volume 6,Issue 12 (December 2010) Page3 Question of the Month Topicfore-DiscussionbyPaulKluth,LSCC#1994 Are you planning to purchase yourself a numismatic Christmas present? If so, what will it be? All responses are welcome! Please consider taking a few moments and sending in your thoughts and opinions. Reply to the Editor at [email protected] Answers to last Month’s QoM What are a couple of favoriteLiberty Seated coin acquisitions for you this past year? These can be coins you picked up either at a coin show, thru a dealer’s price list, web-site or mail bid sale, thru a trade with another collector, or an auction. These can be something you picked up to fill a needed hole in your collection, an upgrade, a specific variety, die marriage,neat counterstamp, an error, or even a cherrypick. Maybe you purchased some old numismatic related literature instead? From Dale Miller: Regarding yourquestionofthemonth, Iacquiredan1888dime,F101ainproblem-free EF40.This is avarietythat GerryFortinwas not abletofindforhis webbookuntil Ifoundthis one and sent it tohim tobephotographed. It cost meonly$13oneBay. From Bill Bugert: Ifinallyfoundandpurchased asecondhand copyofRustyGoe’s out ofprint book, The Mint onCarsonStreet. I’vebeenlookingforone forawhile andam gladtoaddit tomylibrary. From Paul Brill: From theNovemberissueoftheE-Gobrecht, Iam respondingtothePaul Kluth's Ques- tionoftheMonthtosubmit aspecial oruniquepurchasetomycollection. Iam submittingthebeautiful WB-103PCGS-401844-Odramaticdoubledateseatedcoin Ibought earlierthis yearfrom HarryLaibstain. This dateexhibits pertheWBbooktheuseofthe fourdigit datelogotypepunch. Ithinkit is reallya XF- 45,but is agreat exampleofthis famous variety. Page4 The E-Gobrecht Ten Rules for Avoiding Seated Liberty Fakes by Charles Sullivan, LSCC # 1525 Youask for content from thefield. Hereit is. Ihavespent alot oftimeoneBayrecentlyandhavecomeupwithaset ofdiagnostics that mayhelpLSCC members avoidpurchasingSeated Libertyfakes oneBay. "10Rules forAvoidingSeated LibertyFakes" 1.AnySeated Libertycoinwithanopeningbidof 10cents is fake. 2.AnySeated Libertycoinwithproofsharpness andbattleship-greytoningis 99.9%fake. 3.Not all Seated Libertyfakes are "pretty." 4.Few fakes havetheword"copy"or"replica"thoughtfullystampednext totheeagle's wing. 5.TheCarson CityMint was not operational in1847. 6.Not all fakes hail from Asia.Sellers from Brooklyn(and other "totallyAmerican"burgs)aremusclingin ontheactiontoo. 7.Checkthefeedback.A sellerwithrecent entryintotheeBayfamily,low double-digit feedbackscores, andall feedback from newbies andonlynewbies, is sellingfakes. 8.Slabs, eventhosepurportingtobefrom PCGS orNGC,areno guaranteeofauthenticity.Slabs arerou- tinelyfakedas well.See Rule6. 9. IfanattractiveSeated Libertycoinhas received manybids yet thepriceis still low,thereis areason. Checkthebiddingsequence.Areall thebids comingfrom newbies? 10.Beforehittingthe "Submit Bid"buttoninthelast houroftheauction,rememberthateverySeated Lib- ertylistinghasalreadybeenexaminedbydozens ofseries specialists. Yes, youmaypick acherry,but there areno1878-S halves for saleat $300. Oneofmymainpoints is that thesneakiness level oneBayhas risendramaticallyinthelast year. When Iseea$2,000 coinsellingfor$100 with10bids, Iknowsomethingis fishy.Andsureenough, all the bidders are eitherprivate orelsenewbies. 2010 Volume 6,Issue 12 (December 2010) Page5 Regional News by Gerry Fortin, LSCC #1054 Dear fellow LSCC members, Thenext LSCC regional meetingwill be heldinTampa,FloridaonFridayJanuary7,9:00am It is so nicetobe writingtwo inconjunctionwiththewinterFUNshow. Winter consecutiveregional news up- FUNis always anexcitingandbusyshow forsnow dates whileintheUS andhav- birds andcollectors alike. Jason Feldmanhopes to ingadequatetimetofocus on increaseparticipationat this year’s meetingbyoffer- LSCC projects. A LibertySeatedcontemporary ingalivelyagenda andalso manningan LSCC dis- counterfeit moduleis underdevelopment at the playtableat theshow. Already,Carl Feldman LSCC websitewhileplanningfor early2011 re- agreedtodisplayhis gem LibertySeateddimecoin gional meetings is alreadyunderway. Also inthis boards andKam Ahwash encyclopediaas done at update, Iwish tomentiontheissueoflocatingfund- Coinfest. TheFUN regional meetingagendain- ingfor amultimediaprojectorfortheWest Region. cludes Carl Feldman’s “Memories ofKam Ahwash” But first,let’s closethe2010meeting yearwitha presentationfollowedbyJason discussingtheSimp- summaryofthe LSCC regional meetingat theNo- son LibertySeateddime auctionresults from Octo- vemberWhitmanBaltimoreshow. ber LongBeachHeritage sale. Therewill beanup- dateon LSCC news andtheusual opportunityfor SinceCoinfest andWhitmanBaltimore member/guest introductions andaclosingsocial time shows wereonlyaweek apart, Bill Bugert volun- afterthe formal agenda. Pleaseconsiderbringing teeredtochairthe Baltimoreregional meetingallow- guests andintroducingthem tothe LSCC! ingother active LSCC members tosupport thekick- offCoinfest regional session. Obviouslyfrom Bill’s It is not tooearlytostart discussingthe Feb- report,theWhitmanregional meetings continuetobe ruaryLongBeachshow andCraigEberhart’s efforts animportant venueforclubmemberinteractionand toexpand LSCC regional meetingattendance. The camaraderie. Bill sent thefollowingsummary LongBeachmeetingis currentlyshownonthe along; LSCC websiteas beingheldFebruary4 at 9:00am. Craigis consideringchangingthemeetingtoSatur- “Idisplayedthenewclubbanneroutsidethe dayFebruary5to attract incremental members and conferenceroom- everyonelovedit! Wehad24 guests. Also, Dick Osburnagreedto giveapresenta- members includingone guest attend. Iprovided an tioniftheclubcansecureamultimediaprojector for updateofclubactivities includingcontents ofup- interfacingtoalaptopPC. This leads toafunding comingGJ issues andregional events. RichUhrich request from the LSCC membershiptowards pur- providedanupdateonhis experiences withcounter- chaseof aMultimediaProjectorforWest regional feit seateddollars andcounterfeit PCGS slab; this meetings. Theseprojectors arenowfairlyinexpen- was verywell received. Additionally,RandyWiley siveandcanbepurchasedforabout $450. offeredsomeinformation onhis seatedhalfdollar conditioncensus researchefforts. This also went Tothat end, Iseekdonations from the LSCC well withalot ofaudienceinteraction. The meeting membershiptowards the purchaseofaMultimedia concludedabiglongerthan Ihadhoped(10:15AM) ProjectorforCraigEberhart’s use. LSCC regional but everyoneseemedtoenjoyit. Shirleyprovided directors areworkinghardtowards expandingclub refreshments (cookies andpretzels)duringtheafter visibilityinthenumismaticindustryandforrevers- meetingsocial toeveryone's delight.” ingourslowingdecreasingmembershiptrend. Arm- (Continuedonpage9) Page6 The E-Gobrecht The Budget Collector: Seated Deals & Steals Under a Hundred Dollars EighthinaSeries by Len Augsburger, LSCC #1271 InourAugust,2010columnwediscussedan1841-O Onecanonlyguess that hewas not awareofthis closedbud,small-OseateddimecherriedoneBay, a specificvariety,whichis easilyworthseveral thou- G/VGexamplepickedofffora fewdollars. The sanddollars. Dr.Cook, however, was, andwecon- next monthwereported yet anotherexamplecher- gratulatehim onhis find. Thanks toJason Feldman riedoneBay,this timethelarge-Ovariety. Well, forbringingthis toourattention. Jason adds that the believeit ornot wenow haveathird,andthemost listinggot onlytwopage views beforeDr.Cook remarkableso far. OnOctober12th,longtimeseated pouncedonthe“buyit now”price. dimecollectorTim Cookstruckgoldwithan eBay buy-it-nowofferofan1841-Oclosedbud,small-O ThePCGS Registryincludes theclosedbud dime,exhibitingXF/AU detail andpriced at abar- varietyintheseateddimes “CompleteVariety” set definition,but not inthe“MajorVarieties”set definition. Thegoldstandard,however, remains the Redbook,whichdoes not list the1841-Oclosedbud. GerryFortin,at the LSCC Annual Meetingin Bos- ton,discussedsomeofthecriteriausedbytheRed- bookeditors whencontemplatingvarietyinclusion. In general,varieties shouldbeplainlyvisibletothe nakedeye,andvarieties whichare represented across multipleseries (the1873 openandclosed3varieties, forexample,orwithand without arrows types) are morestronglyconsidered. Spaceremains aconstant concerninRedbookpreparation,as the editors are faced withtheannual challengeofcapturing,in a singlevolume,everythingofinterest toU.S.collectors. In short, thebaris highfor aRedbooklisting. Market activity,however,is theultimatearbiter,and continueddifferentiationforcertainvarieties likethis shouldeventuallymerit Redbooklistings. Inothernews, aninterestingitem poppedup at theChicagoCoinClubannual auctionheldon No- vember10th. Theprintingplateusedtoimpress the coveronHarryXBoosel’s bookon1873coinage gain$169.00. Theseller appearedknowledgeable fetched$80inspiritedbidding. Picturedhereis the about rarecoins, describingthis exampleas a printingplateitselfandthebookcover. As canbe “circulatedcameo,”whichis preciselywhat it is. (Continuedonpage8) 2010 Volume 6,Issue 12 (December 2010) Page7 Quarter of the Month by Greg Johnson, LSCC #1460 Oneoftheappealing takealook. Afterexaminingthecoinhehandeditto thingsaboutcollectingseated thedealerofferingitforsale(DickOsburn)andasked, coinageisthenumberanddiver- “isthatdiedeterioration?” Dicktookaquicklookand sityofthevarietieswithineachof respondedwiththecomment,“morelikedisintegra- theseries. Theoveruseandre- tion.” Thetermsoaccuratelydescribedtheappearance workingofdies,aswellasother ofthereversethatsincethatdayIhavereferredtothis strugglesattheearlymints,have diestateasthe“1855-Sdisintegratedreversedie.“ givenusrecut,doubled,scratched,chipped,polished, clashed,cracked,crumbled,andevenshattereddies. Noteinthefigure,whichdepictsanintermedi- Themostspectacularlydeterioratedseatedquarterdie atediestate,thecrumblingor“disintegration”ofthe thatIhaveeverseen,however,reallydoesn’tfitanyof diearoundtheeagleand“STATESOFAMERICA”. thosedescriptions. Myfirstsightingofthisparticular Afterlookingforthesecoinsformorethan4yearsI issue,averylatediestateofthe1855-SreverseA,was think,withenoughpatience,itispossiblefortheinter- during2006atalargeshow. Iwasatadealer’stable estedcollectortoputtogetheradieprogressionofthis standingnexttoanotherseatedquartercollector. reversedieifoneisnottoopickyaboutthecondition WhenIsawthestrikingdiedeteriorationevidencedby andgradeofthecoins. Suchaprogressionwouldbe- thereverseofthecoin,Iaskedtheothercollectorto (Continuedonpage9) Page8 The E-Gobrecht BudgetCollector(Continuedfrompage6) seen,theprintingplateclearlyillustrates theclosedandopen3 types seenon1873coinage. Relatingthe correct titleofthis bookinprint is somethingof anenigma. You can call it “1873-1873,”whichseems tobetheright name, but then you haven’t properlyconveyedtheideaofthe closedandopen3s. Boosel wouldhaveloved ourmoderncomputers, whichinthe- oryshouldbe abletoimplement afont that displays boththe openandclosed3s correctly. (Author’s note–we’ll leavethis as anexercise fortheeditorandseehowhedoes![Editor: I triedall thefonts availableonthis Microsoft Publisher pro- gramandhereis thebest Icoulddo: 3 3. Cananyonedobet- ter?]) Boosel’s other“nit”relatedtohis middlename,which was asingleletterX without aperiod. That oneis alittlebit easiertotype correctly. Yecolumnist was thesuccessful bid- deronthis lot,andtheunderbidderrelatedtomethat hehad otherdelectableBooselianawhich Icannot relate here,but trust me,it is neat stuff. Wewill havetoget these pieces put backtogether at somepoint–it disturbs mysense oforderto seethis material broken upintomultipleparts. Ofcoursethat is partlymyfault forbiddingtoomuch! 2010 Volume 6,Issue 12 (December 2010) Page9 (RegionalNewsContinuedfrompage5) and Iwill each commit $50towards theprojector. Thank youinadvancefortheconsiderationandsup- ingourregional directors withmarketingandpresen- port. Ilook forwardtoreportingabout Dick Os- tationtools is critical fortheirsuccess. Pleasesend burn’s finepresentationat theFebruary2011 Long donations to LSCC Treasurer, Len Augsburger, Beachregional meeting. LSCC Secretary-Treasurer,P.O.Box 6114,Vernon Hills, IL60061. Tolead thedonationdrive,Craig (QuarteroftheMonthContinuedfrompage7) struckattheSanFranciscomint; 2)itisquiteprobably thefirstsilvercoinofanydenominationstruckatthe ginwithearlydiestatesthatshownoabnormalwearor SanFranciscomint;and3)itistheonlynomotto,with deteriorationandproceedthroughintermediatedie arrowsquarterstruckattheSanFranciscomint. Itis statesthatshowthebeginningofthedeterioration alsointerestingtonotethatthesinglebranchmint aroundtheeagleandlegend,concludingwithverylate proofwasstruckfromthesamediepair(Briggs1-A) diestatesinwhichthereappearstobenearlyasmuch asthecoinsdiscussedhere. Apparently,reversedieA metalinthe“halo”aroundtheeagleasthereismaking wasthefirstdieusedatthenewmintandwasusedun- uptheeagleitself. tilitquiteliterallydisintegrated. The1855-Squarterisanumismaticallyimpor- tantissueforseveralreasons: 1)itisthefirstquarter Update on Last Month’s Plea for Help Last month Iranthesephotos ofanobscure 1845-Ohalfdollar. The questionwas whetherthe obversehad adiecrack oraplanchet lamination (photoat upperright)on theobverse. Aftermany years ofstudy,Randyand Ihadnot seenthis before and Iaskedif another readerhadan exampleofjust likethis. As luckwouldhaveit,clubmemberBarry StallardofCaliforniahas one(nowthe finest knownexample!)andsent it to meforstudy,just intimeforprepara- tionofthenext bookonLibertySeated HalfDollarNewOrleans varieties. Thanks toeveryonefor checking andmanythanks toBarryforcoming throughforme. Bill Bugert, LSCC #455 Page10 The E-Gobrecht LSCC Website and Contemporary Counterfeit Module Update by Gerry Fortin, LSCC #1054 AttheBostonANAannualLSCCmeeting,I GobrechtnewsletterstotheLSCCwebsite suggestednewideasforimprovingourLSSC (http://www.lsccweb.org/LSCC_E- website(www.lsccweb.org). Severalpre- Gobrecht_Archives.php)wasapriorityforBill sentedtopicsincludedaddinganopenregis- Bugertandme. Theduplicationofthear- trymoduleforallLibertySeateddenomina- chiveswasfairlypainlessandprovidesLSCC tionsandexpandingtheGobrechtJournal memberswithsinglepointaccessforLSCC pagetoincludescannedarticlesfromthe clubnewsandupcomingregionalactivities. earlyCollectiveVolumes. Duringthesubse- Speakingofregionalactivities,Iaddeda quentmonths,Ireceivedfeedbackfromsev- separatelinktoshowcaseourregionalmeet- eralmembersaboutaddingaContemporary ingcalendar. Thislink CounterfeitmoduletotheLSCCwebsiteas (http://www.lsccweb.org/LSCC_Calendar.php thereissurprisinglystrongcollectorinterest )alsobecamethelocationforLSCC Regional inthisarea. Thisarticlewillfirstprovidea Directorstoaccessclubmemberpresenta- briefintroductiontoourLSCCwebsitefol- tionsthatcouldbedownloadedandsharedat lowedbyadetailedpresentationoftheCon- theirregionalmeetings. temporaryCounterfeitmodule. Themostrecentandexcitingaddition LenAugsburgerlaunchedtheLSCC toourwebsiteistheContemporaryCounter- websiteseveralyearsagomainlyasasign feitmodule posttoensuretheclubofferedavisibleinter- (http://www.lsccweb.org/Contemporary_Coun netpresence. Lenwasencumberedbythe terfeits.htm). Thismodulewasoriginallybuilt inflexibilityofthewebsitebuilderandthe andpopulatedforSeateddimeonmyweb- InternetServiceProvider(ISP). Asan- site.BrianGreer’sincredible“bogocollec- nouncedintheJuly2010E-Gobrechtissue, tion”servedastheanchorwithmanyindividu- JasonFeldmanandImovedtheLSCCweb- alscontributingtheirseateddimecounter- sitetoamoreaccommodatingandfreeISP feitsafterwardstoexpandtheillustratedda- (manythankstoJason)whichallowedmeto tabase. Asaresult,theContemporaryCoun- usetheDreamweavereditortostarttheclub terfeitdatabasehasalwaysbeenapopular websiteimprovementprocess. Since2004, destinationforvisitorsandthetransfertothe I’veworkerwithDreamweavertobuildand LSCCwebsiteandexpansionofthedatabase edittheLibertySeatedDimeVarietiesweb- toallLibertySeateddenominationswasrec- siteatwww.seateddimevarieties.com.With ommendedbyseveralindividuals. Giventhe thesameeditor,transportingexistingfea- considerablesupport,foracomprehensive turesandcontentfromtheSeatedDimeweb- LibertySeatedcounterfeitdatabase,Iin- sitetothatoftheclubcouldbestraightfor- stalledtheContemporaryCounterfeitAr- ward. chivesmoduleontheLSCCwebsiteduring Novemberwhileonahomeleave. Itnowcap- ThefirstLSCCwebsiteenhancements turesthefullscopeofcontemporarycounter- focusedonreformattingtheoverallappear- feitsacrossallLibertySeateddenominations ancefollowedbyaddinganE-Gobrechtar- andisanevolvingclubwebsitemodulethatis chivemoduleandalinktotheLSCCmessage easilyenhancedthroughincrementalclub boardhostedbyyuku.comandadministered membercontributions. byJasonFeldman. MovingthemonthlyE- (Continuedonpage11)