This half-dime, from my father's collection, is clearly a very lucky coin. It shows several areas of smooth "melt" damage,therefore, mintage is unknown. The date retained its clarity and, the imagei is (obverse and reverse) interrupted by melt marks and the coin is "rippled", somewhat. It would have been on the "inner edge" or, perhaps, have fallen off the pile of silver coins, destined to be completely melted down. Whatever the case, I have a true appreciation for the person who I managed to obtain a beautiful specimen of this coin.
I"m working on building on to my 4-generation coin collection but, as a disabled veteran on a fixed income, am doing so, slowly as I can afford to. There are so many coins, such as the 1909-S Indian Head, that I'll likely never be able to afford. I'm 54 now. This collection is so precious, to me, because my great-grandfather, grandfather and love of my life--my dad, all built upon it. From the time I was 5 years old, I would go through the old ammo can, carefully picking out each piece and admiring the stunning artwork of the Standing Liberty quarters and all the old coins; this resulted in my father gifting me this collection several years before he passed away, in 2019. I miss him, so much but, when I'm in the collection looking through all of the items, I can remember sitting in the middle of our living room floor, hearing him speak of some "lost" half dimes and Seated Liberty Dimes. It would be three years after his death, when organizing my garage and the belongings from the old house, that I'd stumble upon another ammo can--one that I had no knowledge of and, one that he'd hidden so well that, even he, had forgotten where it was! I know he's looking down upon me as I found the two small shoeboxes containing amazing coins that I'd never laid eyes upon. rescued it from the floor of the smelting operation and stuck it in his pocket--because, it found its way into my grandfather's pocket!