NNP Blog

4 DECEMBER 2021

Bugert 1878-S Half Dollar Census Available on Newman Portal

Bill Bugert, working with Randy Wiley, has been a dedicated researcher of the Liberty Seated half dollar (1839-1891) series for over thirty years and has produced a number of works related to these workhorses of American commerce. His ongoing series, A Register of Liberty Seated Half Dollars, consists of five volumes to date, covering all the branch Mint pieces and the Philadelphia coins from 1839-1852. He is currently working on the remainder of the Philadelphia series and will document these in future volumes. In the meantime, he has released two other works, including a census of 1878-S half dollars. Bill has meticulously followed auction and fixed price listings of these rare coins, and produced a guide which provides illustrations and detailed pedigree data for 51 separate examples. Bill details a bit of the research process in the introduction: “I was fortunate to have many what I called ‘spies’ helping me; these were collectors of the series that reported sightings of 1878-S half dollars. Chief among those was LSCC member Bob Hamby who scouted the southern shows. He would often call me from a coin show bourse floor with details and then send me images. Dennis Fortier and John Frost were also key to helping me. To them and others, I am grateful.” Bill welcomes additional reports as this work is ongoing. Link to Bill Bugert works on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/booksbyauthor/361