Good Buys in the Seated Half Dime Series - Article by Mark Benvenuto
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I don't own any of these, but some day I hope to snag one or two.
I know there are several "half dime guys" here on the forum, so I thought this article would be of interest to you.
By Mark Benvenuto
December 28, 2007
When it comes to coins that have come and gone, many collectors know a bit about half dimes, but often don't choose to collect them. The half dime is the smallest silver coin authorized by the Mint Act of 1792. It was first issued in 1792, and by 1794 it shared a design with the other silver coins of its time, undergoing changes as they did.
The numbers associated with the earliest half dimes are usually small mintages and rather high prices. But by the time Christian Gobrecht's Seated Liberty appeared on U.S. silver coinage, half dime production was up. That means that a collector has a good chance at assembling a good-looking collection. With patience, you can even do so on something of a budget.
Gobrecht's design came out first on the silver dollars of 1836. It was 1837 that saw it first on the small half dimes I'm looking at here.
The entire design was the seated figure of Liberty on the obverse, with the date in the exergue, and the denomination within a wreath on the reverse. "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" is outside of the wreath.
The overall design is a simple yet elegant one. As with many designs of the U.S. Mint, there would be a change or two in the next year.
The 1837 half dime also came out in small- and large-date varieties. A Guidebook of United States Coins tends to list both at the same price, at least until they are compared in mint-state grades.
It takes about $50 to pick up one of these first Seated Liberty half dimes in Very Good-8. If you want to spend a bit more than $100, a Very Fine-20 might be yours for the taking. And if you want to go for a mint-state specimen, you'll need to part with close to $1,000.
The price tag of this mint-state coin brings up a good point about collecting what can be termed "small silver." There are some of the more common-date Seated Liberty silver dollars that run $1,800 to $2,000 in the lower mint-state grades. That's about twice as much as for a mint-state half dime, but the logic of it for many collectors seems to be that the silver dollar gives you a lot more coin for the expense.
That means they'd rather buy the big coin, as its big price appears easier to justify. That in turn means that many collectors shy away from a series like the Seated Liberty half dime. That's too bad, as there are still some coins with good eye appeal in the Fine to Extremely Fine range. Plenty of them have good prices too.
There are some 1838 half dimes that have the same design as the 1837s, and all are from the New Orleans branch mint. The 70,000 1838-O half dimes are rather scarce when compared to the mintage for the 1837s (1.4 million), but there are still some available.
It will run about $125 to land an 1838-O in VG-8 and $250 for one in F-12. The price tags rise rapidly from there.
If the 1837 and 1838-O make a short set right at the beginning, based on the design, a collector can also look at the years 1837-1840 as a second short set within the series. The coins in those years don't have any of Liberty's garment showing at her left elbow. In 1840 there are versions with and without it. After 1840 all the coins have this extra bit of clothing.
The "drapery" vs. the "no drapery" versions command some differences in prices for the 1840s. But for someone just starting to look at the series, a single example from each date might be a wiser way to go.
In that short span of years, the scarcest coin is definitely the 1840-O with drapery, which tallies up at 240,000 coins. While that's not a particularly low mintage, a mint-state coin is definitely going to be well into four figures. For about $115 you can purchase an example in F-12.
The 1840s represent a decade in which the Seated Liberty half dimes saw plenty of highs and lows. Five dates have mintages well over 1 million coins each, which is right in the zone of the 1837s and second only to the 2.2 million for 1838.
On the other end of things, the 1846 was only made to the tune of 27,000 coins, making it one of the rarities in the series. If you don't want to pony up $375 for a specimen in Good-4, this might be a date to leave open.
The common dates in the 1840s, however, are much more attractively priced. Some will run you as little as $160 in MS-60. Drop down to an EF-40 coin and you'll only need to part with around $55. Although that isn't dirt cheap, it's a very good price for a Seated Liberty piece that's more than 150 years old.
The 1850s are another decade within this series that can be chopped into smaller pieces, much like the few years of the 1830s. In the first four years, the 1852 is the only coin that tops the 1 million mark, although the 1851-O comes close at 860,000.
But it is 1853 that becomes the special year, as the weight of Seated Liberty half dime was reduced from 1.34 grams to 1.24 grams. This was in keeping with a general reduction in the weight of all U.S. silver coins, except for the dollar. The change was marked with two arrows at the sides of the date.
By 1856 the arrows were removed and the half dime again assumed its earlier look, although the weight was still lighter. So the brief span of 1850-1859 ends up giving the collector 24 different date and mintmark combinations, if you factor in the four options for 1853.
That large number of small coins may at first appear dismaying, but the mintages (and the prices that go along with them) could just reverse that. By any stretch, the 1853 "with arrows" is a common coin, having a mintage of 13.2 million. The 1857 is way behind it. But with 7.2 million to its total, it's a rather common piece as well.
Likewise, the 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1858 are each multi-million mintage coins. In MS-60, each of these coins is in the $170 to $200 range. As soon as you go down to an About Uncirculated-50, the prices all drop to about $110.
Of course, if you look to the other end of the mintages within this group, such as the 160,000 for the 1853-O without arrows, you find that the prices jump to levels like $5,250 in MS-60 and even $325 in VG-8.
This brief price comparison serves as an indicator of a collecting trend. The 1853-O without arrows is undoubtedly expensive. But it's less so than one might imagine.
When a coin with a mintage of 160,000 costs $5,250 in MS-60 and another (the 1853 with arrows) with a 13.2 million mintage costs $190 in the same grade, something is askew.
As if there weren't enough half dimes in the series already, in 1860 the design underwent another alteration. Instead of stars around the seated figure on the obverse, "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" was put in their place, and the wreath and denomination were enlarged on the reverse.
Also, the 1860s marked something of the beginning of the end for the half dime. Yes, there were a few dates with mintages over 1 million - the 1860-O, 1861, and 1862. But right after the Civil War, and the sometimes very low mintages that went with it, there came the Shield nickel, in 1866. Now the tiny half dime had competition.
The low-mintage coins in the 1860s were truly low, with totals such as 18,460 for the 1863, a mere 13,500 for the 1865, an even lower 10,725 for the 1866, and a minuscule 8,625 for the 1867. These are all expensive coins today. Prices quickly climb into the thousands of dollars as the grades increase.
But the 1860s were also the first years in which there were some San Francisco half dimes. Indeed, the "S" mintmark was the most common for several of these years. The 1868-S and 1869-S, for instance, each with mintages a bit below 300,000, have price tags in the low hundreds of dollars for mint-state specimens.
In the lower circulated grades, a patient collector can scoop one up for only $35 to $50. That's not bad for a half dime from the Wild West days.
By the 1870s the half dime's days were numbered. Nickels were pouring out of the Philadelphia Mint by the millions, although that didn't stop a couple of final years from having multi-million mintages for the Seated Liberty half dimes as well. The 1871 and the 1872 Seated Liberty half dimes are pretty common. They had mintages of 1,873,960 and 2,947,950, respectively.
If you look at some of the major price listings for half dimes, you'll have the pleasant experience of seeing that coins such as the 1872-S, 1873, and 1873-S, with mintages of 800,000 down to 324,000, all have the same price. And all have the same prices as the much more common 1872.
Since the number of Seated Liberty half dime collectors out there is apparently low, the less common coins are not carrying too much of a premium. Your $100 can get an AU-50 piece that's an 1872, 1872-S, 1873 or 1873-S.
By 1873 it had been decided that the half dime would be shelved, and the nickel would take its place completely and totally. An era had ended, but there were certainly a lot of half dimes still out there.
However, plenty of them are still available for a collector who wants to assemble a date run. There are definitely dates and mintmarks that are prohibitively expensive, but there are plenty of common coins as well.
If you choose to look for coins in higher circulated grades, you can put together quite a string of these coins without a huge expense. But even if you only go for a single piece to add as a type coin to your growing collection, giving the Seated Liberty half dimes a bit more attention can expand your horizons.
These little coins give us a glimpse of a time when five cents was represented by a silver coin that had some real purchasing power. In addition, these half dimes represent the last link for a denomination with a chain that goes back to the origin of the U.S. Mint.
Numismaster link
I know there are several "half dime guys" here on the forum, so I thought this article would be of interest to you.
By Mark Benvenuto
December 28, 2007
When it comes to coins that have come and gone, many collectors know a bit about half dimes, but often don't choose to collect them. The half dime is the smallest silver coin authorized by the Mint Act of 1792. It was first issued in 1792, and by 1794 it shared a design with the other silver coins of its time, undergoing changes as they did.
The numbers associated with the earliest half dimes are usually small mintages and rather high prices. But by the time Christian Gobrecht's Seated Liberty appeared on U.S. silver coinage, half dime production was up. That means that a collector has a good chance at assembling a good-looking collection. With patience, you can even do so on something of a budget.
Gobrecht's design came out first on the silver dollars of 1836. It was 1837 that saw it first on the small half dimes I'm looking at here.
The entire design was the seated figure of Liberty on the obverse, with the date in the exergue, and the denomination within a wreath on the reverse. "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" is outside of the wreath.
The overall design is a simple yet elegant one. As with many designs of the U.S. Mint, there would be a change or two in the next year.
The 1837 half dime also came out in small- and large-date varieties. A Guidebook of United States Coins tends to list both at the same price, at least until they are compared in mint-state grades.
It takes about $50 to pick up one of these first Seated Liberty half dimes in Very Good-8. If you want to spend a bit more than $100, a Very Fine-20 might be yours for the taking. And if you want to go for a mint-state specimen, you'll need to part with close to $1,000.
The price tag of this mint-state coin brings up a good point about collecting what can be termed "small silver." There are some of the more common-date Seated Liberty silver dollars that run $1,800 to $2,000 in the lower mint-state grades. That's about twice as much as for a mint-state half dime, but the logic of it for many collectors seems to be that the silver dollar gives you a lot more coin for the expense.
That means they'd rather buy the big coin, as its big price appears easier to justify. That in turn means that many collectors shy away from a series like the Seated Liberty half dime. That's too bad, as there are still some coins with good eye appeal in the Fine to Extremely Fine range. Plenty of them have good prices too.
There are some 1838 half dimes that have the same design as the 1837s, and all are from the New Orleans branch mint. The 70,000 1838-O half dimes are rather scarce when compared to the mintage for the 1837s (1.4 million), but there are still some available.
It will run about $125 to land an 1838-O in VG-8 and $250 for one in F-12. The price tags rise rapidly from there.
If the 1837 and 1838-O make a short set right at the beginning, based on the design, a collector can also look at the years 1837-1840 as a second short set within the series. The coins in those years don't have any of Liberty's garment showing at her left elbow. In 1840 there are versions with and without it. After 1840 all the coins have this extra bit of clothing.
The "drapery" vs. the "no drapery" versions command some differences in prices for the 1840s. But for someone just starting to look at the series, a single example from each date might be a wiser way to go.
In that short span of years, the scarcest coin is definitely the 1840-O with drapery, which tallies up at 240,000 coins. While that's not a particularly low mintage, a mint-state coin is definitely going to be well into four figures. For about $115 you can purchase an example in F-12.
The 1840s represent a decade in which the Seated Liberty half dimes saw plenty of highs and lows. Five dates have mintages well over 1 million coins each, which is right in the zone of the 1837s and second only to the 2.2 million for 1838.
On the other end of things, the 1846 was only made to the tune of 27,000 coins, making it one of the rarities in the series. If you don't want to pony up $375 for a specimen in Good-4, this might be a date to leave open.
The common dates in the 1840s, however, are much more attractively priced. Some will run you as little as $160 in MS-60. Drop down to an EF-40 coin and you'll only need to part with around $55. Although that isn't dirt cheap, it's a very good price for a Seated Liberty piece that's more than 150 years old.
The 1850s are another decade within this series that can be chopped into smaller pieces, much like the few years of the 1830s. In the first four years, the 1852 is the only coin that tops the 1 million mark, although the 1851-O comes close at 860,000.
But it is 1853 that becomes the special year, as the weight of Seated Liberty half dime was reduced from 1.34 grams to 1.24 grams. This was in keeping with a general reduction in the weight of all U.S. silver coins, except for the dollar. The change was marked with two arrows at the sides of the date.
By 1856 the arrows were removed and the half dime again assumed its earlier look, although the weight was still lighter. So the brief span of 1850-1859 ends up giving the collector 24 different date and mintmark combinations, if you factor in the four options for 1853.
That large number of small coins may at first appear dismaying, but the mintages (and the prices that go along with them) could just reverse that. By any stretch, the 1853 "with arrows" is a common coin, having a mintage of 13.2 million. The 1857 is way behind it. But with 7.2 million to its total, it's a rather common piece as well.
Likewise, the 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1858 are each multi-million mintage coins. In MS-60, each of these coins is in the $170 to $200 range. As soon as you go down to an About Uncirculated-50, the prices all drop to about $110.
Of course, if you look to the other end of the mintages within this group, such as the 160,000 for the 1853-O without arrows, you find that the prices jump to levels like $5,250 in MS-60 and even $325 in VG-8.
This brief price comparison serves as an indicator of a collecting trend. The 1853-O without arrows is undoubtedly expensive. But it's less so than one might imagine.
When a coin with a mintage of 160,000 costs $5,250 in MS-60 and another (the 1853 with arrows) with a 13.2 million mintage costs $190 in the same grade, something is askew.
As if there weren't enough half dimes in the series already, in 1860 the design underwent another alteration. Instead of stars around the seated figure on the obverse, "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" was put in their place, and the wreath and denomination were enlarged on the reverse.
Also, the 1860s marked something of the beginning of the end for the half dime. Yes, there were a few dates with mintages over 1 million - the 1860-O, 1861, and 1862. But right after the Civil War, and the sometimes very low mintages that went with it, there came the Shield nickel, in 1866. Now the tiny half dime had competition.
The low-mintage coins in the 1860s were truly low, with totals such as 18,460 for the 1863, a mere 13,500 for the 1865, an even lower 10,725 for the 1866, and a minuscule 8,625 for the 1867. These are all expensive coins today. Prices quickly climb into the thousands of dollars as the grades increase.
But the 1860s were also the first years in which there were some San Francisco half dimes. Indeed, the "S" mintmark was the most common for several of these years. The 1868-S and 1869-S, for instance, each with mintages a bit below 300,000, have price tags in the low hundreds of dollars for mint-state specimens.
In the lower circulated grades, a patient collector can scoop one up for only $35 to $50. That's not bad for a half dime from the Wild West days.
By the 1870s the half dime's days were numbered. Nickels were pouring out of the Philadelphia Mint by the millions, although that didn't stop a couple of final years from having multi-million mintages for the Seated Liberty half dimes as well. The 1871 and the 1872 Seated Liberty half dimes are pretty common. They had mintages of 1,873,960 and 2,947,950, respectively.
If you look at some of the major price listings for half dimes, you'll have the pleasant experience of seeing that coins such as the 1872-S, 1873, and 1873-S, with mintages of 800,000 down to 324,000, all have the same price. And all have the same prices as the much more common 1872.
Since the number of Seated Liberty half dime collectors out there is apparently low, the less common coins are not carrying too much of a premium. Your $100 can get an AU-50 piece that's an 1872, 1872-S, 1873 or 1873-S.
By 1873 it had been decided that the half dime would be shelved, and the nickel would take its place completely and totally. An era had ended, but there were certainly a lot of half dimes still out there.
However, plenty of them are still available for a collector who wants to assemble a date run. There are definitely dates and mintmarks that are prohibitively expensive, but there are plenty of common coins as well.
If you choose to look for coins in higher circulated grades, you can put together quite a string of these coins without a huge expense. But even if you only go for a single piece to add as a type coin to your growing collection, giving the Seated Liberty half dimes a bit more attention can expand your horizons.
These little coins give us a glimpse of a time when five cents was represented by a silver coin that had some real purchasing power. In addition, these half dimes represent the last link for a denomination with a chain that goes back to the origin of the U.S. Mint.
Numismaster link
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Comments
<< <i>This brief price comparison serves as an indicator of a collecting trend. The 1853-O without arrows is undoubtedly expensive. But it's less so than one might imagine.
When a coin with a mintage of 160,000 costs $5,250 in MS-60 and another (the 1853 with arrows) with a 13.2 million mintage costs $190 in the same grade, something is askew. >>
What is askew here? Bottom line is, there aren't enough date/mint collectors to make the relative scarcity of the '53-O without arrows cost more; there just aren't enough people pursuing that particular date. Also, there's more type coin pressure on the '53 with arrows than on the '53-O without.
First of all, there is the relative scarcity of AU and MS pieces for the earlier O mint half dimes. I'm talking about the mentioned 1838-O, but also the very rare, at least in Mint State 1842-O. In circulated grades, these coins are indeed very collectible and almost all affordable to the collector who's building the set on a tight budget. However, after EF, the coins become rare and very scarce to rare. I think this certainly has to be taken in consideration, and has been described in the article.
Personally, I don't think that the mentioned price difference between Seated Half Dimes is because of the size of the coin. Off course there are collectors who choose for the Dollar instead of the Half Dime instead of the price, but I think that the important part there is availability. Compared to Seated Half Dollars and Dollars, PCGS/NGC Seated Half Dimes are not often available at shows, especially not for the smaller/regional shows. Dealers hardly add them to their inventory because some, especially examples which are not ideal for type purposes (which is, in my opinion indeed the prime market for these coins) and thus scarcely trade hands. They are thus not regularly graded (there are many, many AU raw coins out there compared to the other Seated Series) and we have completed the circle.
I do not expect that this circle will be broken in the near-future. People tend to collect what most dealers will have in stock (why are Morgan dollars that popular?) and thus will mostly overlook this beautiful series. There are many Gems out there waiting to be discovered, and whenever this series will really be collected as much as for instance Barber Dimes, we will find out that there are many sleepers right now in the AU/MS grades.
Dennis
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