And The Same Error in Two Other Denominations
By Rich Uhrich – January 2010 E-Gobrecht

I’ve always been intrigued by the 1849 Dramatically Doubled Date Half Dollar ever since I first saw it in The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars, by Randy Wiley and Bill Bugert, published in 1993.

Wiley and Bugert designate this coin as WB-102 and list its overall rarity as R6 (13 to 30 known). The original date was punched too far left, and much of it was effaced on the dies when the second date was punched in the proper position.

Therefore, on the coin we can see remnants of the bottoms of each of the 4 digits of the original date, to the left of the second date. There is also a remnant of a “9″ in the rock above the “49″, and also the loop of a “9″ in the denticles below the date. I always thought this was an unusuallooking variety and I purchased a VG coin from Jim O’Donnell at the 2000 ANA in Philadelphia.

I attended the 2005 EAC Convention in Annapolis, MD and I was studying an N-1 1847 Large Cent. This large cent has a doubled date with the original date to the left and the bottoms of all 4 digits clear. Sounds familiar! I immediately recognized that this was the same error as the 1849 Dramatically Doubled Date Half Dollar, so I immediately purchased the coin from its owner, Doug Bird.

According to Bob Grellman in The Die Varieties of United States Large Cents 1840 – 1857, the 1847 N-1 is an R2 variety. Subsequent research through the Grellman book resulted in identifying the 1846 N-4 (R1) and the 1848 N-4 (R4) as other examples of this error.

I didn’t think further about this connection until a few years later when I studied an 1848 Doubled Date Quarter that came in with a collection I purchased. This quarter has a doubled date with the original date to the left and the bottoms of all 4 digits clear. And it was obvious that this was the exact same error as occurred on as the 1849 Dramatically Doubled Date Half Dollar and the N-1 1847 Large Cent.

According to Larry Briggs in The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of United States Liberty Seated Quarters, published in 1991, the 1848 Doubled Date is scarcer than the other variety for the year.

In summary, coins with a doubled date with the original date to the left and the bottoms of all 4 digits clear were minted for three different denominations in four consecutive years, with a total of 5 such coins.

Related posts:

1. Philadelphia No Motto Half Eagles From the 1840’s: A Date by Date Analysis
2. ‘07-P Jefferson Dollar Doubled Die Reverse
3. ‘Near-Mythic’ 1849-C Open Wreath Gold Dollar to be offered by Heritage at Long Beach
4. Collecting Date Sets of Liberty Seated Coinage Part 2: Quarters through Half Dimes
5. Wrong-planchet Half Dollar Found
6. Collecting Date Sets of Liberty Seated Coinage – Part 1: Dollars and Half Dollars
7. Second Doubled Die Uncovered By Reader
8. A Magnificent 1916 Doubled Die Nickel
9. NGC Reports Grading Matte Proof 1925-S California Half Dollar
10. What ever became of the half-dollar coin?