REICH'S CAPPED BUSTS, LETTERED EDGE (1807-1836)

John Reich sold himself into indentured service to escape to the USA from the Napoleonic Wars. As early as 1801, his name came to official attention as one of the finest engravers in the country. Opposition from Robert Scot (who must have re¬garded him as a threat to his own job) prevented the Mint from hiring him except for occasional odd temporary assignments. But in 1807, Scot's health (for which read failing eyesight) was a source of serious concern to officialdom; accordingly, the Mint hired Reich as Assistant Engraver at a pittance of $600 per year.

Reich's first assignment was to create new designs for gold and silver denominations: an insult to Scot. The first ones to benefit from Reich's attentions were the denominations most in demand at banks: half dollars and half eagles. Mint Director James Ross Snowden {I860}, using Mint documents not now located, said that the changeover occurred in Sept. 1807: [750,500], from four obv. and three rev. Reich dies. Critics at once attacked the design for portraying "the artist's fat mis¬tress" (which may even have been true, though there is no evi¬dence), and for having Ms. Liberty not only extravagantly buxom but wearing the pilleus, or liberty cap, on her head. For this the answer was immediate, as quoted by Thomas Jefferson in 1825: The cap was meant not for the pilleus but for a fashion¬able head covering of the time—specifically a mobcap, like the one found on portraits of Martha Washington but less elaborate and minus the veil.

Reich's eagle was copied on United States infantry officers' buttons (dubiously attributed to Moritz Fiirst): Albert {1974} GI 50A, SOB, 51 A, and later vars.
Half dollars were struck in every year and of every date ex¬cept 1816. The mintage dated 1815 was delivered Jan. 10, 1816, only hours before a fire in one of the Mint's outbuildings ruined the rolling mills, making conversion of gold or silver bullion into standard planchets impossible until repairs were complete (late 1817). Most of the 1817's went to Bailly Blanchard, Cash¬ier, Planters' Bank of New Orleans.
Reich left the Mint March 31, 1817, after 10 years of adverse criticism and no pay increases; he remains one of the more unappreciated figures in American coinage history: Chamberlain {1955}. Only in recent years was it discovered that he signed his coinage obvs.: The "signature" consists of a notch on one point of lowest r. star. Its last appearance is on one of the 1818/7 dies, evidently completed in 1817 before his departure. Dies of the same type completed by Scot no longer show the notched star. Witham {1967}.

Scot died in 1823, aged 79; his replacement was William Kneass, who had the same assignment as Reich: Improve ex¬isting designs in all denominations (Scot had replaced the Reich device punches with inferior copies of his own). Kneass, how¬ever, did not get around to the half dollars for over a decade. He did complete several device punches, beginning in 1824, but they differed only minutely from those already in use. (On the other hand, during Scot's last six years, the half dollars featured about a dozen overdate dies, whereas during Kneass's first six years, the denomination showed only five overdates, which the Mint must have seen as an improvement.)

Numeral and letter punches during this period were fur¬nished by Henry Starr; after about 1824, by Christian Gobrecht, the inventor, mechanical genius, medallist, and bank-note-plate engraver who was eventually to replace Kneass after the latter had a stroke (1835).

Edge devices differ minutely from one year to the next; some¬times several were in use during the same year; these are cur¬rently under study by Dr. Ivan B. Leaman. To date the only ones that have received publicity are two of 1809 (the so-called experimental edges with "XXXX"—really irregular ornaments —and "IIII" between words) and four of 1830-31: plain be¬tween words, plaques between words bearing diagonals slanting up to r., similar plaques with diagonals slanting down to r., and vertical reeding between words. Complete listing of over 100 slightly differing edge devices, with the die vars. found with each, would more than double the length of this section; we await Dr. Leaman's book. The Overton reference on this series needs total reworking; a true chronological sequence (possible by combining die-state evidence, assembled by this writer and independently by the Bust Half Nut Club, with Dr. Leaman's researches), with accurate rarity ratings, will be necessary to make a new text worthwhile.

Tens or hundreds of thousands of specimens 1809-36 went directly to banks, which retained them as part of their cash reserves, long after new laws mandated smaller sizes and lower weights. These coins came to public attention about 1933-34, when Pres. Roosevelt's bank holiday resulted in exhaustive searches of many cashiers' vaults. Others showed up during the same period owing to bank failures; still others from hoarders' estates. Before then, the biggest single source was probably the Economite hoard (buried by the New Harmony Society, Econ¬omy, Pa., and discovered in 1878). This contained 111,356 bust half dollars, many close to mint state but scrubbed—including 100 1815's. For this reason, many vars. of this design come mostly in VF to AU, "sliders" (slightly rubbed coins being mas¬queraded as "UNCIRCULATED") being common. However, truly mint-state specimens of any date before 1836 are difficult to find, far more so if sharp strikings.

Specimens dated 1837 and 1838 with lettered edges and 50 C. rev. are circulating counterfeits of the period.

REICH'S CAPPED BUSTS, LETTERED EDGE

Designer, John Reich. Engravers, Reich (1807-17), Scot (April 1817-23), Kneass (1824-35), Gobrecht (1835-36). Mint, Physical Specifications, Authorizing Acts, as before. Edge, FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR * (some vars. with ornamentation after DOLLAR or between words).
Grade range, FAIR to UNC. GOOD: Date and all letters legible except LIBERTY and motto; devices outlined, no internal de-tail. VERY GOOD: LIBERTY weakly visible; shoulder clasp visi¬ble, curl above it faint, partial internal details of hair and drap¬ery. FINE: Shoulder clasp and adjacent curl plainly outlined. VERY FINE: Clasp clear with internal detail; adjacent curl rubbed only at highest point; hair below LI distinguishable; most individual feathers show. EXTREMELY FINE: Few tiny iso¬lated rubbed spots only; other details complete, generally over half mint luster. EXCEPTIONS: Weak sinkings, especially from buckled dies, may not show certain details even in mint state; on these, parts of PLURIBUS are much weaker than rest of motto. NOTE: Tens of thousands of pieces overgraded "UNC." show rubbing on eyebrow, hair above it, hair above ear, ribbon end, and parts of drapery. These "sliders" should not command the premium of mint-state specimens.

GOBRECHT'S CAPPED BUSTS, 50 CENTS (1836-37)

During autumn 1836, Christian Gobrecht (appointed Second Engraver in 1835 when Kneass had his eventually fatal stroke) completed working dies for half dollars, of a new design, intended for steam coinage at the new weight standard, to be mandated by a bill then under consideration by Congress. As this bill did not become law until Jan. 18, 1837, the coins dated 1836 were for long believed patterns. Robert W. Julian has found evidence that the 1836 coinages of the new design were in fact legal issues for circulation—at the old weight standard. However, Mint tolerances for blanks at the old standard meant that many were coined at 206.5 to 207 grs., which largely over¬laps the legal limits of the new standard (206.25 ± 1.5 grs.). Therefore, new standard blanks could have been used and prob¬ably were. All specimens I have weighed are within legal toler¬ances for either standard.

These half dollars of the new issue, dated 1836, were the first coins made for circulation on the Mint's new steam press. Steam coinage had been a goal of successive Mint Directors ever since 1797, when Matthew Boulton originally demon¬strated its value by coining over 34 million pennies for the gov¬ernment of George III, more nearly identical (and more frus¬trating to counterfeiters) than any similar quantity of coins had ever been. However, for a variety of reasons, no foundry in the USA could build a steam coinage press until 1836. The Mint's first one was due to begin service on Feb. 22, 1836, and Gobrecht cut dies for medalets; however, the demonstration was aborted, and the date on the FIRST STEAM COINAGE medalet die was altered to March 23. (These medalets became very popular; the Mint Bureau still sells imitations.) No steam coinage for circulation followed until Nov. 8, 1836. On this latter date, Mint Director Robert Maskell Patterson sent 10 "specimens" (were these proofs?) of the new half-dollar design to Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury as "the first specimens, executed this afternoon."

Patterson's letter continues: "The old [half dollar] coins were struck in what we term an open collar; this is struck in a close collar [see Glossary], which makes the edges of pieces thicker, and gives a mathematical equality to their diameters." Intro¬duction of the close collar meant that lettered edges had to be abandoned, as the close collar compressed planchets at striking enough to squash any lettering or ornamentation imparted to blanks before striking—as on the 1833-35 restrike halves 4703, 4709, 4718. Lettered edges could be imparted by collar only if the latter were segmented and assembled in such a way as to come apart as the lower die rose to push the finished coin out of the coining chamber after striking. Jean Pierre Droz had experi¬mented with this technique during his brief and unhappy time at Boulton's mint, for which reason Thomas Jefferson vainly sought to bring Droz to the infant Philadelphia Mint (1792-93). However, it was beyond even Boulton's enormous technological capacity, and the Philadelphia Mint was not to adopt it until 1907, for the new St. Gaudens eagles and double eagles. Never¬theless, close collars were perfectly adaptable to striking coins with reeded edges, and the Mint used them for smaller silver and gold coins beginning in 1829. Four different collars were in use for 1837 half dollars, one of them (30.5 mm, fine reeding) the same as 1836. The others are 29.5 mm, 30.8 mm with coarse reeding (nearest to that of 1838 but not identical), and 31.6 mm. This last made coins with a wider rim around border beads on both sides, and is rare. We are not pricing them separately (ex¬cept for the broadest) as nothing is known of their degrees of scarcity, many collectors do not have micrometer calipers, and most have neither the patience nor the eyesight to count reeds.
Instead of creating an original design, Gobrecht merely did what Kneass would have, had the latter escaped his crippling stroke: redrew the old Reich devices. Dropping the motto ex¬tended the practice with the then current quarter dollars and gold coins. The wording 50 CENTS would be changed in 1838 to HALF DOL. for uniformity with the quarter dollars and silver dollars.

GOBRECHT'S CAPPED BUSTS, 50 CENTS

Designer, Christian Gobrecht, after John Reich. Engraver, Gobrecht. Mint, Philadelphia. Composition, 1836, as before; 1837, silver 90%, copper 10%. Diameters, U/6 to U/s" = 29.5 to 31.6 mm (see introductory text). Weight standards, 1836, as before, 208 grs. = 13.48 gms; 1837, 206.25 ± 1.5 grs. = 13.36 ± 0.1 gms. Edge, reeded. Authorizing Acts, 1836, April 2, 1792; 1837, Jan. 18, 1837 (see introductory text).
Grade range, POOR to UNC. GOOD: All legends and date legi¬ble; generally, only one or two letters of LIBERTY will show; devices outlined. VERY GOOD: At least three letters of LIB¬ERTY legible; partial drapery, hair, and feather details. FINE: Full LIBERTY. VERY FINE: Shoulder clasp clear; over half hair details, most feathers separated. EXTREMELY FINE: All hair strands and feathers separated; only few tiny isolated rubbed spots.

GOBRECHT'S CAPPED BUSTS, HALF DOL. (1838-39)

The mid- and later 1830s were times of many brief design experiments for most U.S. coin denominations. Between 1835 and 1839, no less than seven heads were introduced on cents, three types each on half dimes and dimes, four types on quar¬ters, six on half dolla'rs, five on quarter eagles, and at least five on half eagles. Little or no explanation reached the Mint files in the National Archives; obscure technical reasons doubtless ex¬plained some of these changes, equally obscure aesthetic consid¬erations presumably dictated the rest. In particular, there is no immediate answer to why the eagle was redrawn for the 1838-39 half-dollar revs. The shift from 50 CENTS to HALF DOL. was presumably for uniformity with the quarter dollar and sil¬ver dollar.

This design is notable for the first branch-mint half dollars: 20 proofs dated 1838 with mintmark O above date, struck in Jan. 1839 ostensibly to test a press, followed by at least 178,976 similar halves dated 1839, with at least five more proofs. The 1838 O is one of the most famous of American rarities; for long the quantity minted was controversial. Beistle {1929} claimed that only three were struck; this is manifestly absurd, as his backer Col. E. H. R. Green owned seven, though either he was unwilling to let Beistle see more than three, or he bought them after 1929. The true story behind this mintage was first pub¬lished in 7VLW4/1894, p. 198, but it did not come to modern collectors' attention until the 1950s. Friesner:583 (1894) was a proof 1838 O, with an old piece of paper inscribed "The en¬closed specimen coin of the U.S. branch mint at New Orleans is presented to Pres. Bache by Rufus Tyler the Coiner. It may be proper to state that not more than 20 pieces were struck with the half-dollar dies of 1838." In the National Archives (1951) I found reference to "a few" halves struck "to test a press," and Rufus Tyler's name appeared repeatedly in New Orleans records as Coiner. As all 20 evidently began life as proofs, no further explanation is needed for their absence from quarterly reports of coinage for circulation. This Tyler-Bache-Friesner coin went to Augustus G. Heaton; it is not now identified, and the Tyler document has not shown up.
The following roster is up to date as of March 1987. All are proofs unless otherwise noted.

1. Superintendent, New Orleans Mint, Mint Director Rob¬ert Maskell Patterson, Mint Cabinet Coll., SI. Clain-Stefanelli {1970}, fig. 32.
2. John H. Clapp, Louis Eliasberg estate.
3. Col. E. H. R. Green, Burdette G. Johnson, Wayte Ray¬mond, J. G. MacAllister, Adolphe Menjou, R. E. Cox, Empire Coin Co., A. Buol Hinman, "Century":! 151, Robison:1605, $70,000, Marvin Brauder.
4. J. N. T. Levick, W. Elliot Woodward 10/84, R. Coulton Davis, James B. Wilson, Waldo Newcomer, Henry Chapman, Col. E. H. R. Green, Maurice Ryan, W. W. Neil, James Aloy-sius Stack estate, $50,000, 1982 ANA:2320, Anthony Terra-nova, Kevin Lipton, G. W. Vogt, Auction 84:1666, $55,000, Rorida pvt. coll.
5. Col. E. H. R. Green, William Cutler Atwater, Reed Hawn:122, $41,000, Auction 79:1569, $62,000. Field nicks mid¬way between nose and fifth star, and hair and ninth star.
6. Col. E. H. R. Green, W. G. Baldenhofer, R. Pelletreau, Jerry Cohen, Lester Merkin, Q. David Bowers, Charles Jay, Dr. E. Yale Clarke:253, $43,000, Julian Leidman, Auction 82:1689, $47,500. Impaired. 111. in Breen {1977} and above 4734.
7. Col. E. H. R. Green, Wayte Raymond, F. C. C. Boyd, WGC:410, 1971 ANA:805, Oviedo:830, $40,700. EF, formerly proof.
8. Col. E. H. R. Green, "Anderson Dupont," Gotschal, 1957 ANA, TAD, Julian Leidman, Steve Ivy, Manfra Tordella & Brookes, 1983 ANA:2494, Robertson, MARCA 5/24/85:392, $35,750, 1986 ANA:4657A. Impaired.
9. New Orleans pvt. coll., Ferguson Haines, Col. E. H. R. Green, Charles A. Cass, "Empire": 1344, New Netherlands, Jerry Cohen, KS 4/67:1065, Kreisberg MBS 6/29/70:1044. EF.
10. Guggenheimer:830. EF. Claimed in the catalog to be ex WGC, but ill. does not match no. 7.

In 1951, Wayte Raymond traced 11, apparently including all the above
Attention must be drawn to the two types of rev. on the 1839 Philadelphia coins. "Type I" has large heavy letters close to border, and the eagle is that of 1838: spread talons, large shield about touching arrow feathers, three arrow butts, large area of arrow feather below stem, only one berry above H (the other is far to 1. between two top pairs of leaves). This was for long the only rev. known with any Capped Bust obv
"Type II" has medium-size narrower letters far from border, and the eagle is nearest to that regularly found with Liberty Seated obvs. later in the year: closed talons, small shield distant from arrow feathers, only two arrow butts, only a tiny remnant of arrow feather below stem, paired berries above H. Beistle {1929} may have seen it (his 1-B seems to match the descrip¬tion in part), but Maurice Rosen first identified it as a new design about Sept. 1972. I discovered that its rev. die was the same, or at least from the same complete hub, as the pattern Judd 95. However, with a regular obv. die, "Type II" is repre¬sented by three circulated business strikes, whereas the pattern obv. made only proofs. The roster of survivors:

1. FCI, 1973 GENA, Julian Leidman. EF. Discovery coin.
2. Julian Leidman, Stanley Scott: 387, Harte: 2650, 1981 GENA: 1133, Kagin 333:1686 (1984 Met. NY, 3/30 - 31/84). VF, rim dent above (I)T; 204.8 grs. = 13.27 gms.
3. Delaware pvt. coll. EF, 205,78 grs. = 13.334 gms. Possibly same as 1.

GOBRECHT'S CAPPED BUSTS, HALF DOL.

Designer, Engraver, as before. Mints, Philadelphia (no mint mark), New Orleans (O above date). Physical Specification, Authorizing Acts, as preceding. Grade range and standards, as before.