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Key Date Draped Bust Half-Dime and Dime NewP's
STONE
Posts: 15,275 ✭
Somewhat recently I acquired two of the Key Dates in the Draped Bust Half-Dime and Draped Bust Dime Series (minus of course the ever expensive 1802 DBhD - but I will explain)
The 1803 Small 8 Draped Bust Half-Dime is an R6 die marriage with a survival estimate of ~25 pieces. It is a Major Variety in the Series, with both the very much more common 1803 Large 8 as its variant. And while there are other rarer die marriages in this series, most are not "Major" types, and therefore get less notice in the series, unless of course you are a die marriage specialist...and there are very few of those for these little guys! And while the 1802 Draped Bust Half-Dime is the stand-alone Key DATE of the series, it has a surviving population of around 35 pieces, or about 10 pieces more than the 'Major' variety date of the 1803 Small 8 featured below.
In the Draped Bust Dime series, the Key Date is the 1804 Dime, and the rarer of the two die marriages for this date is the 14-star reverse, which is what I acquired! The 14-star reverse 1804 dime is still just a low-R5, with maybe 40 surviving pieces. Nevertheless, still a very difficult date to acquire, and one missing from most Draped Bust Dime collectors' collections!
Both of these coins have minor issues - the 1803 half-dime has a slightly bent planchet, while the 1804 dime has a couple old divots in its surface (but remarkably a flat planchet!)
Even with these minor issues I still take pride and joy in their ownership, and would like to share these with you
1803 Small 8 (R6)
1804 14-star reverse (R5+)
The 1803 Small 8 Draped Bust Half-Dime is an R6 die marriage with a survival estimate of ~25 pieces. It is a Major Variety in the Series, with both the very much more common 1803 Large 8 as its variant. And while there are other rarer die marriages in this series, most are not "Major" types, and therefore get less notice in the series, unless of course you are a die marriage specialist...and there are very few of those for these little guys! And while the 1802 Draped Bust Half-Dime is the stand-alone Key DATE of the series, it has a surviving population of around 35 pieces, or about 10 pieces more than the 'Major' variety date of the 1803 Small 8 featured below.
In the Draped Bust Dime series, the Key Date is the 1804 Dime, and the rarer of the two die marriages for this date is the 14-star reverse, which is what I acquired! The 14-star reverse 1804 dime is still just a low-R5, with maybe 40 surviving pieces. Nevertheless, still a very difficult date to acquire, and one missing from most Draped Bust Dime collectors' collections!
Both of these coins have minor issues - the 1803 half-dime has a slightly bent planchet, while the 1804 dime has a couple old divots in its surface (but remarkably a flat planchet!)
Even with these minor issues I still take pride and joy in their ownership, and would like to share these with you
1803 Small 8 (R6)
1804 14-star reverse (R5+)
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Comments
And I cannot criticize the condition, as the 1803 half dime looks similar to my 1799 large cent that I paid a bunch for
Looks like you've got the "real deal" there - now - tell us you picked them up
for "an apple and an egg"... LOL
Congrats !!
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Coin collecting is not a hobby, it's an obsession !
New Barber Purchases
<< <i>Looks like you've got the "real deal" there - now - tell us you picked them up
for "an apple and an egg"... LOL
Congrats !! >>
Mike,
Wish I could say each of these were a "bargain", but even in their respective conditions they were expensive!
If you are interested in the early half dimes, you might enjoy reviewing my set. I collect by Red Book variety, and no I don't have the 1802. But I do have everything else.
Bill Jones' early half dimes
For now, this 1803 Small 8 DBhD is just an affordable, albeit better date/variety, type piece.
I don't know when/if/how I will begin collecting the DBhD's by Red Book variety, but I will definitely keep your collection in mind as to how to structure it.
And that's really too bad you were unable to acquire one of the finest know 1802 DBhD's a few years back.
I'm positive you will acquire one and complete your set some day
<< <i>And that's really too bad you were unable to acquire one of the finest know 1802 DBhD's a few years back. >>
That one I saw that I could have come close to owning was one in a VF holder @ $139,000. That was still beyond my means, and I thought that it had some damage. There has been another high grade one around, but when I saw it a year and half + ago, I thought that it was bent, but I could have been wrong. That still didn't stop the price from going over $400,000.
The best one I've ever seen came on the market over 20 years ago. It was in a PCGS AU-50 holder with a price tag of $98,000. At that time it might as well have been $98 million. The worst one I've seen, I saw almost 40 years ago. It was mostly round, had a shadow of Ms. Liberty on it and legible “02” on the obverse. The reverse was blank. I think the asking price in the early 1970s $895.
The 1802 is a legitimate “natural rarity” that will probably be perpetually out of my reach.