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In 1829 the Mint resumed the half dime denomination with the Capped Bust half dime series. Designed by Chief Engraver William Kneass, it was based on the John Reich dime. All Capped Bust half dimes were minted in Philadelphia and have no mint mark. The series ended in 1837 as the new Seated Liberty design commenced. During its life the Mint changed from screw press to steam press, and changed the silver content from 89.24% to 90% with the Mint Act of 1837.

This is a wonderful series for collectors. They were more abundant than their predecessors, with mintages between 870k and 2.7m. Survivors in all popular grades are available, and they often feature attractive toning. One can collect by year (9 coins), by major variety (14 coins, with varied large/small dates and denominations in later years), by die marriage (92) or by marriage and remarriage (125 as of this writing - although not all of the registries recognize these yet).

Features include the early 1829 marriages with 3 pale gules (vertical stripes representing the color red) in the shield, changed to 2 pale gules when that design proved problematic, the "3 over inverted 3" obverse errors in 1834 and 1836, abundant die cracks and chips, and interesting cuds at the terminal state like that on the 1836 LM-1.2 pictured above.