1876 H Newfoundland 50 Cents
Victoria · 2 varieties · study revised Oct 18th 2013
With only 28,000 of these coins originally minted, this represents one of the lowest production numbers for the entire NFLD Half Dollar series. As can be expected, it is also a very difficult year to find in any condition and those in higher grades are extremely scarce! This may be the result of many of these coins having been melted shortly after they were minted. Some collectors have suggested that a large number of the Newfoundland coins were taken to the US and used for their bullion value. This explanation may account for the scarcity of this particular year but there may have been other reasons as well.
Read Barry's full introduction
Like many of the other coins minted during these early years, the 1876 H also had more than one variety. At the moment, there are two very distinct variations which are both interesting and very difficult to locate in any grade, however, the second variety appears to be particularly rare! Finally, it should be mentioned that the Obverse also has a very interesting feature which appears on both varieties. It can be clearly seen that the letters "E" and "F", in the word "NEWFOUNDLAND", are missing the top section of the digit which joins the serif to the body of each letter!
