1838 Dime Die Trial - J-A1838-1

Coin Details

Auction Record

$13,800 MS63 01-04-2006 Heritage Auctions

Description

This die trial captures the very first year of the Seated Liberty dime, making it a foundational piece for one of the longest-running design series in American coinage. The Seated Liberty dime was introduced in 1838, adapting Christian Gobrecht's acclaimed dollar design to the smaller denomination. The obverse features Liberty seated on a rock, holding a liberty cap on a pole with her right hand and supporting a shield with her left, with thirteen stars around the border and the date 1838 below. The reverse displays "ONE DIME" within an open wreath, surrounded by "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." This first-year design differs from later iterations — the obverse stars would later be replaced by the national legend, and the wreath would be changed from an open laurel to a cereal wreath in 1860. The Judd-A1838-1 designation indicates this is the earliest cataloged die trial for the Seated Liberty dime, struck to test the dies before the inaugural production of 1,992,500 silver dimes at Philadelphia. Die trials from the first year of a new design carry special significance because they document the translation of the engraver's vision from master die to struck metal — the moment when a design moves from concept to physical reality. For specialists in the Seated Liberty series, this die trial marks the beginning of a design era that would span fifty-three years.

Rarity Notes

Very rare. First-year die trials of the Seated Liberty dime are extremely scarce; J-A1838-1 is known in very few specimens.

Cross References

Judd-A1838-1