1898-O 50C XF40 认证号24769997, PCGS号6481

Dennis West - 04/07/2012 - LBHT Images by Valente151 Medium O Variety. O does not touch tail feathers. Scarce. Most 1898-O's are the Large O which does touch the tail feathers. I also have the "Tiny O" - which is a tad larger than the 92-O Micro O, but smaller than the Medium O. The Tiny O variety is the scarcest of all the 1898-O's. Mine is from the Jules Reiver collection and is graded by NGC - as a VF 30. This coin is mentioned in the Beistle Half Dollar Die Varieties book of 1929. Which is categorized as 1898-O 2 B. Low Date. Rev. B. High, and very small mint mark. Beistle used different adjectives when he discussed the 1892-O Micro-O ( as we call it today ) - he mentioned that this particular coin was similar to the normal issue with one exception, the Obverse has a die crack along the lower edge of the date and that the Reverse has an "infinitesimal" mint mark O and about one-half the size of the regularly used O. "Extremely Rare". We know that there are less than 100 known examples of this 1892 Micro O and I have been fortunate to have owned two from the Dr. Peter K. Shireman collection - An ANACS AU 55 and his proof like finished PCGS MS 63. My collection also housed another example - a PCGS AU 55. The Reiver example of the 1898-O "Tiny O" has yet been confirmed by a TPG service. The coin was sent via Harry Laibstain to the offices of Mark Saltzberg, Chairman of the Board of NGC. After a six month study, no one could either confirm or deny that this was indeed a "Micro O" - and I contend that this "Tiny O" should not be compared with the 1892 version. The 1892 coin was punched with a Quarter Mint Mark punch; the 1898 coin was punched with a Dime Mint Mark punch. The difference between the Dime and the Half Dollar mint mark punches are slight. It's easy to miss - unless you study a number of coins of 1898-O . I had a Grading Set of 19 different grades of circulated 1898-O's. I also had three MS coins as well for comparison. Only the Reiver coin showed a smaller Mint Mark. The mint mark position and size is exactly as Beistle described it to be. I hope to attach professional images of my current example of a normal Mint Marked example side by side with the Reiver coin. Nothing would please me more than to have this coin finally recognized for what it is, a truly rare die variety which has in the past only been rumored to exist.

Ron Guth

The 1898-O Half Dollar is a semi-scarce date that has often been perceived as being underrated.  However, before comparing it with the dates that David Akers cited, it's important to point out that the 1898-O is a tremendous rarity with a full strike.  Many examples, including those with the highest numerical grades are poorly struck, with weakness most noticeable at the upper right shield point (and adjacent wings) and on Liberty's lips.  There are a couple of special examples that come tantalizngly close to being fully struck, but an example with both full lips and a full shield may not exist.  

Comparing the 1898-O to the following dates -- 1896-O, 1896-S, 1897-O, 1897-S -- yields some interesting results, based on the PCGS Population Report.  The 1896-O is the true star of the group.  It has the lowest Mint State population by far (less than half that of the 1898-O).  The 1896-S, 1897-O, and 1898-O have similar populations, with the 1897-O being slightly scarcer.  The 1897-S has a significantly larger Mint State populations than all the others of the group.  When examining the dates in this group for condition-rarity (how rare are they in high grade), the 1898-O and the 1896-S are the most difficult to locate above MS65.

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David Akers

In the past, the 1898-O was always overshadowed by the mintmarked issues of 1896 and 1897; that is, although the 1898-O was always considered a very scarce date, it generally took a backseat to the 1896-O, 1896-S, 1897-O and 1897-S in terms of popularity and perceived rarity. Now that we have a better picture of the relative rarity of many of the issues in the series, however, it is quite clear that the 1898-O in Gem condition is decidedly more rare than either of the two 1897 issues and is actually very similar in rarity to the 1896-O and 1896-S. I feel that is is one of the more underrated issues in the series in high grade, and Gem quality examples are extremely difficult to locate.