Frequently Asked Questions

Nope. It's a silver coin that contained half of the silver of the contemporaneous dime. It was comprised of 89.24% silver from 1829 through 1836, and 90% silver as of the Mint Act of 1837.

Digital photography has opened up this world to us. A good macro lens and some practice and you are peering into the intricacies of these coins. A good loupe for examination in-hand enables you to see how a coin "faces up" and whether it cartwheels or just sits there.

In 1998, Russ Logan and John McCloskey published the book Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837. It remains the foundational work on the half dimes from that time span, and underpins all of the content on this site.The story holds that they were initially reluctant to use their initials, but were convinced that it was right to do so. Now the grading companies and all but the most "seasoned" of collectors use LM-x[.y] where x is a unique marriage of the obverse and reverse dies, and .y represents a remarriage of those same dies.

If you own the book, some corrections and discoveries can be found in LM Book Updates

"Die state analysis of many Capped Bust half dimes reveals that an obverse-reverse die pair was frequently reunited after one or both of the dies were used to strike coins with different mates. In other words, a die remarriage occurs if the same obverse-reverse die pair is reunited in the screw press after either of the dies was used to strike another die marriage. Because one screw press was used exclusively for the production of half dollars, there was a need for continual set-up and break-down of the dies and periphery equipment to satisfy the demands for the remaining copper, gold, and silver denominations coined at the Mint."
– Logan & McCloskey, Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837

The obverse has just a few common pickup points.

• The stars are named S1 through S7 (going up the left side) and S8 through S13 (down the right). So, "DC at S3" just tells us to look for a die crack around Star 3.
• Digits of the date can help, as with "8 high/3 low" or differentiating Large Date from Small Date obverses in 1835 through 1837. Some obverses have a filled loop in the 8 or a "3 over inverted 3" error.
• When a letter is referenced, it's within the word LIBERTY.
• Die flow lines are diagnostic on some obverses, and often appear as a series of tight ripples around Liberty's face.

The reverse offers more pickup points than the obverse, and some of us prefer to start with the reverse when attributing.

• S2S references the relationship of the second S in STATES to the S in PLURIBUS.
• Scroll refers to the E PLURIBUS UNUM, and its distinct starting position (relative to the letters TE of UNITED) and ending position (relative to M in AMERICA) help identify reverse dies.
• S1, T2, E3, C1, A2, etc., is the nth occurrence of one of the repeating letters in the text "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 5C".
• U, F, M, etc., is one of the non-repeating letters, as in "U High".
• Lapping is when the die was filed down to smooth out things like die clashes. (Lapping can confuse, as we're used to seeing the cracks, clashes, and chips get progressively worse, but lapping tidies that up somewhat for superficial issues like clashes).
• Azures are the horizontal lines in the shield and represent the color blue. A die bulge in the azures is found in Reverse X.
• Pales gules are the vertical lines in the shield and represent red."3 pale gules" were used in early 1829, but then replaced with "2 pale gules" thereafter since the 3-line stripes didn't strike up well.
• (Not referenced here, but of interest, pales argent are the vertical lines in the shield representing white and alternating with pales gules).

I love these little coins, and I've had a lot of smart people offer their time and expertise to help me along. This is one way I can give back a little.

Before publication of the LM book, the previous naming convention honored Daniel Webster Valentine, whose 1931 book "The United States Half Dime" was published in Numismatic Notes and Monographs #48. He covered the range of half dimes: 1792 half disme, 1794-95 Flowing Hair, 1796-1805 Draped Bust, 1829-1837 Capped Bust, and 1837-1873 Seated Liberty. This site is concerned with the Capped Bust series.

See the cross-reference in Set List