I have to admit, you’re probably reading this because I mentioned “bust,” right? 😉

I scored an incredible find this week, folks—an 1834 “bust” half dime. Back in the day, the U.S. skipped nickels and favored smaller coins, which I find pretty amusing!

These half dimes are among the tiniest coins ever minted in the U.S., so my photos turned out a bit blurry—sorry for that. It’s hard to see, but the coin is sitting on a drink coaster adorned with little square tiles, and I had to zoom in quite a bit. Then again, it doesn’t surpass the size of our 1836 1 & 1/2 pence piece from Great Britain we acquired last year. That one was even tinier!

Anyway, here’s what the reverse side looks like:

I got the coin in a trade deal with a friend, valuing around $185. He ended up with 18 coins plus an old $2 bill, while I snagged just the one. It was a win-win: he now has 19 items to sell at his shop, and I added another 19th-century coin to my collection. Plus, I cleared out stuff from my Trading Binder that I didn’t need anymore—score one for minimalism!

After the deal, my friend was quick to boast that he snagged the coin for only $20 from a dealer. But I wasn’t too bothered. I pointed out that most of my items were freebies, thanks to helping people liquidate their collections. You get to keep a few for yourself!

On a related note, I sold my dad’s mini collection of Morgan Dollars to an avid collector for $500, and parted with the silver Eagles for $20 each to folks in my coin club. It’s honestly one of the best places to buy, sell, and trade coins!

Has anyone else come across any cool finds lately?