1859 1 Cent

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rick.page
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Location: Peterborough

1859 1 Cent

Post by rick.page » Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:41 am

Are die cracks common on the 1859 cent? I think this one has three cracks, any comments.

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Shylo
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Re: 1859 1 Cent

Post by Shylo » Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:09 pm

Very common.....

Bill in Burl
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Re: 1859 1 Cent

Post by Bill in Burl » Thu Mar 10, 2016 4:53 am

I have looked at 10's of thousands of 1859's (and have over 1000) and I have yet to see one didn't have a die crack somewhere or a repunched letter/digit. I'm not even counting the vine breaks at leaf 7 & 13 that EVERY '59 has
Bill in Burl

rick.page
Posts: 57
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 8:06 pm
Location: Peterborough

Re: 1859 1 Cent

Post by rick.page » Thu Mar 10, 2016 7:42 am

Thanks for the information, very helpful.

Bill in Burl
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Re: 1859 1 Cent

Post by Bill in Burl » Thu Mar 10, 2016 11:03 am

There were about 9 million minted (maybe a little less depending on how many 1858's and 9/8's came out) with an average die life of less than 50,000 strikes for the Reverse. The Reverse dies were, by far, the ones that failed the fastest because of the intricate design, so you may have some Reverse dies that lasted 70, 000 and some that maybe only lasted 1000. At last count there were a little over 200 Reverse dies actually delineated. With the striking process, steel alloys, and machinery designed for thicker coins (the 1859's were the same diameter as the Brit halfpenny, but 1/3 thinner), the dies were destroyed pretty fast. The 1859's are a collecting category all by itself, since you have marriage pairings to deal with as well. Some Obverse dies were paired with 5-6 different reverses because the failure rates were so severe.

As I said before, you are very lucky to find a coin with NO die cracks, and even those will have repunched characters.
Bill in Burl

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