Half Dimes For Less Than Half A Million?

The recent auction of Part 1 of the D. Brent Pogue Collection (May 19, 2015 Stack’s-Bowers and Sotheby’s) highlighted some truly amazing half dimes, including an absolutely beautiful 1792 half disme, one of our nation’s first federally-issued coins. A person’s hopes and desires really soar when one of these astonishing rarities crosses the auction block. But even though it’s fun to look at coins at that highest of levels, the starting bid of $350,000 – more than the cost of most homes in the US – pretty quickly deflates any soaring hope that we’ll ever own such a coin.

This beautiful 1792 Half Disme was the first Pogue coin on the auction block on May 19, 2015. It realized $440,625.

On the flip side of things though, a big-time auction can make us focus our attention on the same coins, and perhaps see what is out there that is considerably more affordable than a single piece which costs close to half a million dollars. So, just what half dimes are available for prices we might seriously consider?

The initial output of just about any denomination of silver coins from the young Mint can politely be called spotty, and the fact that plenty of the earliest silver coins were made at the request of wealthy folks who deposited the silver and asked for specific coins in return meant that half dimes were relatively rare beasts even in the years they were being produced. Thus, any of the Flowing Hair design or the Draped Bust designs which were made up until 1805 are expensive pieces today. Even a piece down in G-4 condition will run about $1,500 – probably more than most of us wish to ante up for a well-worn coin.

The second coin auctioned of the Pogue Collection was this stunning 1794 Flowing Hair half dime. Price realized $305,500.

Despite this rough start for small silver, when the half dime denomination again got underway in 1829, now with the Capped Bust design work of Mr. William Kneass, the mintage figures jumped and jumped in a big way. That first year, 1829, saw an official tally of 1,230,000 coins – a higher number than all the combined half dimes ever minted before, from 1792 – 1805. Adding to this good news, almost every year that the Capped Bust half dimes were produced saw mintages of over a million pieces. The 1832 and the 1837 come in a bit below that, but the 1835 saw over 2.7 million produced, and the 1836 came in only a bit behind, with 1.9 million. All this means something, and that something is: these half dimes are indeed collectible.

We mentioned right at the beginning that we are looking for affordable half dimes, and now we have a series that just might qualify. So we need to ask: what defines “affordable?” If the answer is, $10 - $20, well, we’re probably never going to see any affordable half dimes. But if $100 still qualifies as affordable, a lot of possibilities open up for the Capped Bust half dimes. Since there are relatively few folks who collect these nine dates that make up the series, each of them are available for about $100 in either F-12 or VF-20 grades. There are some varieties that are considered scarce, and that may cost a bit more. But one of each date is within reach for $100 apiece.

Knowing that $100 can get us a toe hold in the half dime denomination, the next direction to look might be to the much more common Seated Liberty half dimes. The Seated Liberty design, the artwork of Mr. Christian Gobrecht that graced every denomination of our silver coinage from these little half dimes all the way to the hefty silver dollars, lasted on the half dimes from 1837 all the way to the end of the denomination’s lifetime in 1873. There are plenty of memorable dates, changes in design, and eye-popping rarities among these half dimes. A few of the notable ones, at least in terms of half dimes that are affordable, have to include: the 1838, with 2.2 million; the 1853, with 13.2 million; the 1854, with 5.7 million; the 1856, with 4.8 million; the 1857, with 7.2 million; the 1858, with 3.5 million; the 1861, with 3.3 million; and the 1872, with 2.9 million. Yes, there are plenty of other dates with mintages of more than a million coins, including some with the ‘O’ of the New Orleans branch Mint. As well, there are some serious rarities, including the unique 1870-S. But it’s those common dates on which we wish to concentrate.

We mentioned that the Capped Bust half dimes could be nabbed in decent conditions for about $100. That same $100 will land most of these common Seated Liberty half dimes in better grades – meaning EF-40 to AU-50. What’s more, a look through any of the major price lists indicate that some of the far less common dates among the series, especially those at the tail end of the series, are available in MS-60 for about $150. That’s not bad for a mint state coin that is well over a century old.

In what probably qualifies as a really neat footnote to this series, for almost every year of the Seated Liberty half dimes, there were some proofs produced. They are not at all common, usually having a mintage below 1,000 coins, but they do command prices as low as $600. Admittedly, that’s not pocket change, but to acquire a proof Seated Liberty half dime at a price like this has got to be a great moment for anyone building a serious collection.

Even if you are a truly frugal collector (I have used that term for myself quite often, as it sounds so much better than ‘colossal cheapskate’), it appears that $200 can start a person off with a type set of two half dimes, one Capped Bust and one Seated Liberty. From there, each collector can assemble their own collection as they wish. But it’s good to know that half dimes are still quite collectible, even if we can’t do more than dream about a mint state version of the 1792 half dime.

This article originally appeared in the Maryland Numismatist, Autumn 2015, Vol. 43, No.3.
Photos of the Pogue coins courtesy of Stack’s Bowers Galleries.

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