Table Of ContentLiberty 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 defi-
nition. 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.collec-
tors. 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)
