Newman Portal Adds Koenings' Reeded Edge Half Newsletter

Launched in 2019, Jim Koenings' Reeded Edge Half Newsletter is dedicated to study of the reeded edge Capped Bust half dollars struck from 1836-1839. An extension of the Capped Bust half dollar series, the Reeded Edge pieces represent a number of changes, including transition to the steam press and the ability to impart the reeded edge at the time of striking. Weight, fineness, and diameter were additionally altered per legislative and technical requirements. These pieces are sufficiently different from the 1807-1836 half dollars and usually collected as a separate type, even if highly similar at first glance.

The four-year series contains 56 die marriages, with the standard reference being Dick Graham's A Registry of Die Varieties of Reeded Edge Half Dollars (2012). The Overton reference, ubiquitous for Capped Bust halves (1807-1836), does not include this series. Koenig's Reeded Edge Half Newsletter focuses on the most common 38 die varieties and explores one in depth each month. The most recently published issue, for November 2020, cover the 1837 GR-18. This variety is most readily attributed by the reverse die crack running from the eagle's left wing to (CE)N(TS).

Koenings has further written on the Reeded Edge series in the John Reich Journal, published by the John Reich Collector Society (JRCS), and recommends JRCS membership for all collectors interested in this series.

Images: 1837 50c, GR-18, courtesy of Heritage Auctions

Link to Koenig's Reeded Edge Half Newsletter:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/540192

Link to John Reich Journal on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/518721

Link to John Reich Collector Society webpage:
https://www.jrcs.org/