Capped Bust Coins

History

John Reich, a German-born engraver who reached the United States as an indentured servant during the Napoleonic Wars, was hired by Mint Director Robert Patterson to improve the nation's coinage, and his capped-head Liberty reached the half dollar in 1807. The denomination carried unusual weight in commerce, having served since 1805 as the largest silver coin the Mint produced in quantity, which accounts for the enormous mintages compared with other early federal silver. Production ran annually with a single interruption in 1816, when a fire at the Philadelphia Mint halted silver coinage. The 1836 switch from a hand-operated screw press to steam power required a close collar, and Christian Gobrecht adapted Reich's design accordingly, with completed dies dated to August 1836; because the legislation authorizing the change did not become law until January 1837, some numismatists regard the 1836-dated reeded edge halves as patterns rather than regular issues. The reeded edge design continued through 1839, overlapping in its final year with Gobrecht's Seated Liberty half dollar.

Details

The lettered edge issues of 1807 through 1836 were struck in an alloy of 89.24 percent silver and 10.76 percent copper, at 32.5 mm and 13.48 grams, with FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR impressed on the edge. Business strikes for that sub-type total 82,339,124 pieces, alongside an estimated 200 to 300 Proofs. Conversion to a close collar in 1836 reduced the diameter to 30 mm, since the planchet could no longer spread outward under the dies. Philadelphia struck the series from beginning to end, and New Orleans entered in 1838 with the first branch mint half dollars. Chief Engraver William Kneass reworked Reich's dies during the run, and production fell below one million pieces in only three years of the series.

Features

Liberty faces left in a cap secured by a band inscribed LIBERTY, her tresses falling to the shoulder and her low neckline draped in cloth fastened by a brooch, with seven stars to the left, six to the right and the date below. The denomination changed twice: 50 C. on the lettered edge coins, 50 CENTS on the reeded edge issues of 1836 and 1837, then HALF DOL. from 1838 through 1839. Gobrecht removed E PLURIBUS UNUM from the reverse in 1836 and slightly reduced the overall size of the design, while the edge inscription that halves had carried since 1794 gave way to raised rims and reeding. Because the dies were finished by hand, numerous varieties exist for each year, and the series is collected by die marriage as often as by date.

Notable facts

• Every 1815 half dollar is the 1815/2 overdate, since the Mint used a single pair of dies for the entire year's production.
• Only 20 half dollars were struck at New Orleans in 1838, placing the issue among the major rarities of United States silver coinage.
• The issues of 1807 and 1808 form a distinct early sub-type sought by type collectors, and examples frequently show worn and cracked dies.
• No Proof Capped Bust half dollars are known dated before 1820, though sample pieces from as early as 1817 have been rumored.
• Certified populations for most dates run to several hundred coins, with the bulk falling between Extremely Fine and near-Mint State and few pieces at the top of the scale.
• Reich's capped-head Liberty was also used on the quarter from 1815 to 1838, the dime from 1809 to 1837 and the half dime from 1829 to 1837.