Capped Bust Half Dollars 1807-1839

The Capped Bust half dollar was the work of John Reich, a German-born engraver who reached the United States as an indentured servant and was hired at the Mint as second engraver under Robert Scot. His new Liberty went onto the half dollar in 1807, the same year that Scot's Draped Bust half was still being struck. The Mint did not report the two types separately, so the 1807 figure of 750,500 Capped Bust halves is a reconstruction. Reich's portrait was later adapted to the quarter, dime and half dime. Chief Engraver William Kneass later modified the design, and a slimmer, younger-looking bust appeared on the half in 1834.

Half dollars carried much of the country's silver coinage in these years. No silver dollars were struck from 1804 through 1835, and banks held large stocks of halves as backing for their notes. Mintages topped a million in all but a few years, and each year needed many dies: NGC's notes record 50 die marriages for 1827 alone.

The War of 1812 era disturbed the supply of silver. No half dollars were coined during calendar 1815. Early in 1816 the Mint struck 47,150 halves from a single die re-dated from 1812, all of them dated 1815, and delivered them on January 10, 1816. A fire then destroyed the rolling mills, and coinage did not resume until 1817.

Through 1836 the halves were struck without a restraining collar, on planchets whose edges were lettered beforehand. In 1836 the Mint received its first steam-powered press, and on November 8 it struck its first silver coins on it: a new half dollar by Christian Gobrecht, smaller and with a reeded edge formed by a close collar. A law of January 1837 lowered the weight from 13.48 to 13.36 grams and raised the fineness from .8924 to .900. The reverse value changed from 50 CENTS to HALF DOL. in 1838. New Orleans struck the only branch-mint halves of the type in 1838 and 1839, and in 1839 Gobrecht's Seated Liberty half dollar took over.

Obverse. Liberty faces left, wearing a mobcap with LIBERTY on its band and curls falling to her shoulder. Thirteen stars ring the border, seven on the left and six on the right, with the date below.

Reverse. An eagle with a shield on its breast holds an olive branch and three arrows. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA runs around the top. On the lettered edge type a scroll above the eagle reads E PLURIBUS UNUM and the value below reads 50 C. The reeded edge type drops the scroll and reads 50 CENTS (1836–1837) or HALF DOL. (1838–1839).

Edge. Lettered FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR from 1807 to 1836, with a star separating the end of the legend from its start on coins of 1814 to 1831 and vertical lines from 1832. Reeded on the reduced-size coins of 1836–1839.

Mint mark. Philadelphia coins have none. The 1838-O and 1839-O carry an O on the obverse, above the date.

Telling the types apart.

Things that cause confusion.

• 1807 Draped Bust. Robert Scot's Draped Bust half was also struck in 1807. Its Liberty has loose, flowing hair and no cap.
• Overdates and repunched dates. Many dies were re-dated, so a trace of an earlier digit is common. Some traditional overdates are doubtful: NGC calls the 1822/1 attribution speculative and often misattributed.
• The 1809 edge. On some 1809 marriages, a row of IIIII or XXXXX marks sits where the edge legend ends and begins again.

Die marriages. Lettered edge halves are identified by Overton number (O-101, O-102 and so on within each date), from Al C. Overton's Early Half Dollar Die Varieties 1794–1836, first published in 1967 and continued by Donald Parsley. A letter suffix marks a later die state. The reeded edge halves of 1836–1839 use Graham-Reiver (GR) numbers instead.

• 1815/2: every 1815 half is this overdate, 47,150 struck from one pair of dies.
• 1817/4 (O-102): the underlying 4 was nearly polished away, and the variety was first announced in 1930. NGC counted 11 confirmed as of 2017; CoinWeek puts survivors at fewer than ten.
• 1836 Reeded Edge: the traditional mintage is 1,200. NGC thinks the number of survivors points to more, and some pieces match the lower 1837 weight, so striking may have run into 1837.
• 1838-O: the first half dollar of the New Orleans Mint. The reported mintage is 20, struck as proofs and not for circulation.
• 1839-O: Krause and Dick Graham give 178,976 struck; the Red Book gives 116,000.
• 1807 varieties: Small Stars (O-113), Large Stars, and the Large Stars 50/20, whose 5 was first punched upside down. A die break from Liberty's chin to her bust on O-111 grew into the Bearded Goddess (O-111b).
• Overdates: 1808/7, 1811/10, 1812/1 with Small 8 or Large 8, 1814/3, 1817/3, 1818/7, 1819/8, 1820/19, 1824/1, 1827/6 and 1829/7.
• 1824 Over Various Dates (O-103): the date was punched so many times that the earlier digits cannot be read with certainty.
• Lettering blunders: the 1813 50C/UNI, with the letters UNI punched inside the value; the 1814 E/A, an E punched over an A; and the 1836 50 over 00 (O-116), where the value was first entered as 00.
• 1817 Single Leaf (O-106a): heavy polishing of the reverse die left one leaf showing below the wing.
• 1836/1336 (O-108): a 3 was punched where the 8 belonged and then corrected.
• 1839 Small Letters reverse (GR-1): a reverse close to the one used on the Seated Liberty half. Dick Graham had confirmed ten when his book was published.

• 1807–1836, lettered edge: 13.48 g, 89.24% silver and 10.76% copper, holding 0.3866 troy oz of silver; about 32.5 mm
• 1836 reeded edge: mostly at the old 13.48 g weight; NGC notes a few pieces at the reduced 1837 weight, a sign that striking ran into 1837; 30 mm
• 1837–1839, reeded edge: 13.36 g, 90% silver and 10% copper, holding 0.3866 troy oz of silver; 30 mm
• Designer: John Reich, revised by William Kneass; the reeded edge type adapted by Christian Gobrecht