By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
The Draped Bust Half Dime denomination returned in 1800 after a two-year hiatus in which the Heraldic Eagle reverse became the standard for U.S. gold and silver coins. The reported mintage for the issue is estimated at 40,000 pieces, but it is usually split between coins with LIBERTY impressed correctly and those in which the top of the “R” is absent, resulting in the unusual LIBEKTY spelling. Both obverse styles are listed in the Guide Book, in which the LIBEKTY style carries a small premium.
Five die marriages are known, three of which are rare. The fifth marriage is a recent discovery. The LM-1 “LIBERTY” is probably the most frequently encountered die marriage of the issue. Its most noteworthy survivor is the extraordinary PCGS MS68 toner from the Norweb and Pogue collections. This specimen is the experts’ consensus pick for the finest Draped Bust Half Dime in existence and it sold for $381,875 at the Stack’s Bowers/Sotheby’s May 2015 Pogue session.
Rare varieties of the 1800 Draped Bust Half Dime are typically found in low grades with post-mint damage. With eye appeal diminished, these production curiosities remain affordable.
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Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens
1800 Draped Bust Half Dime, Logan-McCloskey-1 (LM-1)
R-3. This die marriage can be easily identified by the odd shape of the “8”, which was created by overlapping two “small o” punches. LIBERTY is spelled correctly. Eagle’s beak touches point of the bottom-left star. Reverse is also used on LM-2.
The LM-1 is the most common of the known 1800 Draped Bust Half Dime varieties.
- PCGS MS68 #11398219: Emery May Norweb; “The Norweb Collection, Part I,” Bowers and Merena, October 1987, Lot 308 – $70,400; Knoxville Collection; “The Knoxville Collection,” The Mint (Jay Parrino), 2002 Fixed Price List. As PCGS MS68 #11398219. “The D. Brent Pogue Family Collection, Part I,” May 2015, Lot 1010 – $381,875. Spectacular green, blue, and violet toning throughout. Finest known Draped Bust Half Dime.
- NGC MS65 #560319-002: Heritage Auctions, February 24, 2005, Lot 6102 – $43,125; Stack’s, January 2009, Lot 4414; “The Joseph C. Thomas Collection, Part Two,” Heritage Auctions, April 30, 2009, Lot 2184 – $25,300; Stack’s Bowers, March 25, 2021, Lot 4055 – $33,600. Struck with clashed dies. Soft in isolated areas. Nearly brilliant.
- NGC MS65 #4657114-001: As PCGS MS64. Stack’s Bowers, August 13, 2011, Lot 7253 – $25,875. As PCGS MS64 CAC. Stack’s Bowers, August 7, 2012, Lot 11289 – $22,325. As NGC MS65 #4657114-001. Stack’s Bowers, October 25, 2018, Lot 2059 – $33,600. Muted gold and brown toning throughout. Dark toning above second 0 to bust. Customary softness of center-right clouds and stars.
- NGC MS65 #1656290-005: American Numismatic Rarities, September 13, 2003, Lot 209 – $18,400; Heritage Auctions, August 14, 2006, Lot 5109 – $35,937.50; Heritage Auctions, May 10, 2007, Lot 2054 – $34,500; Heritage Auctions, September 9, 2007, Lot 23085 – $32,200. Attractive cobalt and red periphery toning on both sides.
- NGC MS65 #335171-002: Bowers and Merena, March 1998, Lot 87; “The Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part II,” Heritage Auctions, October 27, 2014, Lot 98169 – $55,812.50. Dappled toning in cobalt blue, orange, and golden brown on both sides.
- PCGS MS64+ CAC #24963702: Heritage Auctions, July 12, 2012, Lot 3316 – $37,375. Mostly brilliant.
- PCGS MS64 #21871640: Stack’s Bowers, August 2014, Lot 13059 – $25,850. Deep olive grey, green, and aubergine toning. Inside of top loop of 8 untoned. Dark toning blob between S and OF.
- PCGS MS64 CAC: Stack’s Bowers, August 7, 2012, Lot 11289 – $22,325.
- NGC MS64 #4077085-025: Heritage Auctions, January 4, 2012, Lot 3102 – $17,250.
- PCGS MS64: Stack’s Bowers, June 17. 2010, Lot 1721 – $18,975.
- NGC MS64 #3214405-002: Heritage Auctions, April 30, 2009, Lot 2183 – $20,700. Rose peripheral toning. Hint of sea green in the right obverse field. Dark spots on center left clouds.
- PCGS MS64: Bowers and Merena, November 1998, Lot 1362; “The Frog Run Collection,” American Numismatic Rarities, November 30, 2004, Lot 474 – $27,600.
1800 Draped Bust Half Dime, Logan-McCloskey-2 (LM-2)
Rarity-7. Discovered by Walter Breen and published in The Coin Collectors’s Journal in 1958. Fewer than a dozen known. Rarely seen unimpaired.
- NGC AU58: Heritage Auctions, July 1988. Toned.
- PCGS AU53 #84059738: Stack’s Bowers, August 2017, Lot 2052; Stack’s Bowers, August 15, 2018, Lot 1101 – $22,000 Reserve Not Met; Heritage Auctions, December 5, 2019, Lot 3048 – $15,600. Likely second finest. Struck with clashed dies.
- PCGS Cleaning – AU Details #81866077: Heritage Auctions, February 16, 2017, Lot 3681 – $17,625.
- NGC XF Details – Damaged #3811311-001: Stack’s Bowers, November 14, 2019, Lot 1234 – $1,740.
- PCGS F12: “The Philip G. Straus Collection, New Netherlands, June 1959, Lot 438; unknown intermediaries; Jonathan Kern to Jules Reiver, March 1989; “The Jules Reiver Collection,” Heritage Auctions, January 2006, Lot 2941; “The Jim Matthews Collection; Stack’s Bowers, August 13, 2011, Lot 8204 – $6,900. Breen discovery piece. Brown hue throughout. Vertical hairline scratch across portrait.
- PCGS Good Details – Holed: Stack’s Bowers, June 27, 2012, Lot 2478 – $381.88.
1800 Draped Bust Half Dime, Logan-McCloskey-3 (LM-3) – LIBEKTY
Valentine-2. Rarity 4. LIBEKTY obverse. The “R” looks like a “K” due to a broken punch. More common of two LIBEKTY obverse varieties (LM-4 is rare). [Some] exhibit damage at the “BUS” of PLURIBUS on reverse that also impacts the strike detail of Liberty’s hair. Later die state examples may exhibit raised bumps near star 1.
- PCGS MS66 CAC #6250454: “The Norweb Collection, Part I,” Bowers and Merena, November 1987, Lot 310; Heritage Auctions, August 12, 2015, Lot 3981 – $111,625. Doily holder. Orange and brown mottled toning throughout.
- PCGS MS66 #21907679: Jay Parrino, by sale. As NGC MS66 #957212-038. The Foxfire Collection (Claude E. Davis, MD); Foxfire Collection sold, en bloc, via Richard Burdick to the D. Brent Pogue Family. As PCGS MS66 #21907679. “The D. Brent Pogue Family Collection, Part I,” Stack’s Bowers / Sotheby’s, May 2015, Lot 1011 – $152,750. Well-centered and well-struck. Blue-green and champagne toning throughout. Dark spot on bust.
- PCGS MS65+ CAC #10005434: “The Norweb Collection, Part I,” Bowers and Merena, November 1987, Lot 309; Heritage Auctions, August 12, 2015, Lot 3980 – $47,000; Heritage Auctions, March 4, 2016, Lot 4781 – $45,825. Dark brown and aubergine toning. Aubergine on the lower right obverse field and on the lower reverse.
- PCGS MS65 #6575381: “The Michael Riordan Collection,” Goldbergs, June 2002, Lot 2034; “The Oliver Jung Collection,” American Numismatic Rarities, July 23, 2004, Lot 27 – $47,150; “The Madison Collection,” Heritage Auctions, January 10, 2008, Lot 2745 – $80,500. Peach gold toning. Curved strike through below Y.
- PCGS MS64 #25040214: As NGC MS63 CAC #142006-001. Heritage Auctions, August 2004, Lot 5621 – $16,100; Heritage Auctions, January 4, 2012, Lot 3104 – $20,700. As PCGS MS64 #25040214. “The Bender Family Collection, Part I,” Heritage Auctions, August 24, 2022, Lot 3722 – $26,400. Crossed to PCGS, where the coin upgraded by one point. Dark vintage orange, red, and blue toning on both sides.
- NGC MS64 #1804620-001: “The Larry H. Miller Collection,” Stack’s Bowers, December 17, 2020, Lot 1040 – $20,400. Cream and olive toning. Fingerprint on obverse.
- PCGS MS64 CAC #10174613: Legend Numismatics marketed this coin in the January 2009 issue of Coin World for $35,000; Heritage Auctions, May 28, 2009, Lot 378 – $32,200; “The Jim O’Neal Collection of U.S. Type, Part One,” Heritage Auctions, April 24, 2014, Lot 5549 – $31,725
1800 Draped Bust Half Dime, Logan-McCloskey-4 (LM-4)
R-7. Rare LIBEKTY die marriage. Top three arrowheads are of equal height. STATES is positioned high above clouds.
- NCS VF Details – Environmental Damage #5028910-001: Heritage Auctions, February 9, 2024, Lot 3275 – $3,360.
- NGC VF Details – Bent #3749439-015: Heritage Auctions August 5, 2014, Lot 3412 – $2,943.38.
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Design
Obverse:
On the obverse, a youthful Liberty faces right, with long hair cascading down her neck and a decorative ribbon tied at the back. The shoulders and neckline are loosely draped with a rippled cloth. The word LIBERTY is centered at the top inside the border denticles, with the date centered at the bottom. Thirteen six-pointed stars fill the spaces between the date and LIBERTY, seven to the left and six to the right. The 1800 LIBEKTY variety is missing most of the horizontal top bar of the letter “R”, giving a first-glance impression of being a letter “K”.
Reverse:
The reverse displays the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the edge of the coin inside a denticulated rim, UNITED STATES and OF AMERICA separated by the tips of the eagle’s outstretched wings. The eagle holds in its beak a loop of a banner displaying E PLURIBUS UNUM. The banner curls in front of the right wing and behind the left wing. The eagle’s body is covered by a Union Shield. It holds an olive branch in its left claw and a cluster of arrows in its right. Thirteen small six-pointed stars are arranged above the eagle: six in the top row, five in the row below, and one to each side of the eagle’s head. Above the stars and below STATES OF is a concentric line of clouds stretching from wing to wing.
No denomination or mintmark appears on the coins; all were minted in Philadelphia.
Edge:
The edge of the 1800 Draped Bust Heraldic Eagle Half Dime is reeded.
Coin Specifications
| Country: | United States of America |
| Year of Issue: | 1800 |
| Denomination: | Half Dime (Five Cents USD) |
| Mintmark: | None (Philadelphia) |
| Mintage: | Estimated 24,000 + 16,000 LIBEKTY |
| Alloy: | .8924 Silver, .1076 Copper |
| Weight: | 1.35 g |
| Diameter: | 16.50 mm |
| Edge: | Reeded |
| OBV Designer: | Robert Scot |
| REV Designer: | Robert Scot |
| Quality: | Business Strike |
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