1823 Capped Bust Dime - 3/2 Small Es

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Description

This is the 1823/2 overdate variety of the 1823 Capped Bust Dime. Dies were expensive, and a serviceable die left over at the end of a year was often kept and re-dated rather than destroyed: the new digits were punched directly over the old ones. The earlier date survives underneath wherever its strokes fall outside the digits punched over it, which is why an overdate is read from the shapes that do not belong to the date as printed. The effect is in the die, so every coin struck from it carries the same remnant in the same position. Any mintage given below counts the entire issue for this date and mint, not this variety: a variety comes from one die or a few, and how many coins they struck was never separately recorded. Produced at the Philadelphia Mint, the 1823 Capped Bust Dime - 3/2 Small Es is part of the Capped Bust Dimes 1809-1837 series. The 1823 Capped Bust Dime issue as a whole had a mintage of 440,000; how many coins carry this variety is unknown. The obverse features Liberty facing left wearing a mobcap and the reverse displays a heraldic eagle with shield on breast, olive branch and arrows in talons, with a banner reading E PLURIBUS UNUM. Struck during a period of national unity and westward expansion following the War of 1812, as the U.S. grew in confidence and territory. Struck in 89.2% silver, 10.8% copper, weighing 2.7 grams, 18.8 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. Cataloged as PCGS #4498.