DESERT MOON NEWSLETTER, ISSUE 6, January 20, 2025

We had some FUN

Desertmoonnm.com

Hi Folks,           

It is that time when everyone is coming out with their new inventory obtained at and around FUN.  The FUN show was exactly what it is, FUN.  There were a lot of activities and the bourse floor was smokin’.  I had a very good show selling for the first 2 days, but did not sell as much as I did at ANA.  Still a very good show.  My buying was stronger than at ANA.  I was fortunate to have 2 friends stop by from time to time and occupy my table so I could go out and scan the floor.  That resulted in acquiring some gold, some silver, and some copper.  My records show 28 newps of which 20 were obtained on the FUN floor, 4 from associated auctions, and 4 from elsewhere.  Quite an active January so far. 

            One area where I expanded our inventory while at FUN was in bust half dollars.  These were minted from 1794 to 1837 and went through multiple design changes over their production history.  Thus Bust half dollars to me are one of the most interesting coins to collect and study because all of the design changes and die production, resulted in 100s and 100s die marriages and even more die states, with all of complexities exhibited by the early US minting processes.  And because the half dollar was the work horse for trade and for daily commerce, millions were minted and many are still available today.  Suffice to say that each bust half dollar that exists today is essentially a unique archive of information and aesthetic beauty.  The magnitude of variety dwarfs my beloved bust quarter series and a whole heck of a lot of numismatists thus collect these amazing coins.  There were a few tables that were offering literally 100s of bust half dollars, and many tables that had a few.  Just to peruse all of them on the floor would likely have taken up days. I was able to find 12 that met my expectations for price point and quality, spanning dates from 1806 to 1833.  My table shared the median with the tables of Sheridan Downey, considered to be one of the (if not the), bust half dollar dealer/guru.  His tables always had more than a handful of interested numismatists present to view his latest auction offerings throughout the whole FUN show.  Most of these folks were clearly committed to the series and would cluster around each other and the offerings discussing them, and I assume all were submitting bids to Sheridan for the auction.  Suffice to say that with all of this vibrant commitment buying and selling bust half dollars, quite a few scholarly books have been written about the series.  For those interested in the study of these early US Mint products, these books provide a strong introduction and sustainable learning for this richly complex series and I recommend anyone to pick up one or a few of these.  

            I have 8 newps that go live today on the website and more will be listed in the upcoming weeks.  Please contact me if any of these are of interest.

Thanks for reading!

Best, DM

Here are some selections of the newps I just listed on the website: