Hi everyone! Just purchased this draped bust dime from eBay for $400 bucks. My personal grade for it is AG3. I got it to complete my draped bust set. All I need now is the half dime. Do you think I over paid? Also, please post your draped bust dimes. Thanks Larry
Very nice pickup! Something interesting about this date is that the reverse die was used to strike all of the $2.5 gold quarter eagles for 1805, 1806, and 1807. At first that may sound surprising, but if you think about it, it does make sense for the mint to have done this. The dime and quarter eagle were effectively the same diameter and the reverse die did not bear a denomination, so the dies could be used interchangeably! This was also the case for the half dollar and $10 gold eagle, though there are no known instances of a reverse die being used between those two denominations.
That is a good example of the 1807, JR-1, only variety for the year. I agree a grade of G4 is correct with a strong obverse for the grade. The examples in my collection: 1796, Small Eagle Reverse, JR-2 1801, Heraldic Eagle Reverse, JR-2 1800 Half Dime, Heraldic Eagle, LM-1
Yes, there is a lot of detail on the portrait, but that seems to be the way a lot of these 1807 dimes wear. I personally like this one better at AG-3. I can see an argument made for G4, but I think the lettering on the reverse is worn too much into the rim for a G. As for value: if it's AG-3, you paid a strong price. Problem free AG-3s have sold on Heritage over the past couple of years between $260 and $375, with a couple of outliers. If it's a G-4, you got a good deal. Problem free G4s seem to trade between $450 - $550.
All of the 1807 dimes were struck from the same die pair. I am sure that Robert Scot, the mint’s die maker and designer, realized that the Draped Bust, Large Eagle design was on its way out. Therefore he didn’t bother to make any more dies. The mint personnel pushed this pair until it was barely able to strike coins. The result was that these coins frequently are see with uneven detail like this coin. In addition, like all of the gold and silver U.S. coins from this era, there were no protective rims, to speak of, that shielded the lettering and stars around the edge. The wear went into the tops very quickly, which resulted in a relatively progression from “VF” to “AG.” I think that if the OP coin did have this issue, there it would probably have graded F-VF today. Here are my two Draped Bust Dimes. 1796, JR-1, PCGS graded this one AU-50. I bought this one from a bid wall that used to exist in Boston. The owner, the late Don Romano, who had a sardonic sense of humor, said that a collector client, who bought this coin from his father, was named "Jimmy Stiff." "Now that he has become one, this coin is up for bids," he said. He said that Mr. Stiff paid $126 for this piece back in the day. He put it up with a minimum of $1,260. I paid a bit more than that for it. This was in the mid 1980s. I believe that Don Romano graded this one VF-35. The "AU" grade is legitimate. The piece has a fair amount of mint luster. It's weak in the center of the obverse because it's a later die state. 1805, 4 Berry Reverse. This is my avatar coin, and it's the first high grade early U.S. coin I purchased. This piece got me hooked on early U.S. coins. PCGS graded this one AU-58. I bought this coin from the late Catherine Bullowa. She called it "EF." Back then one of the ways to sell coins was to under grade and over price. That was case here, although I think that the price really was fair for the time given what the coin is. It was a bit under $500. This was in the 1970s.
Thanks for the responses guys! I’m glad to hear I did well. Good timing on eBay auction I guess. Almost got it for cheaper too. If this coin is indeed a G4 than it could be worth up to $650 according to PCGS. I suspect it’s somewhere between AG3 and G4. So happy to add it to the collection. Will the half dime be easier or harder to find in comparison?
Nice one. Doesn't seem too banged about. Congrats. The half dime will be tough. When I was looking for one, they were all either very low-end and ugly, or very high-end and completely unaffordable. There wasn't much good stuff in between. I reckon folks hang on tight to those. I finally settled on an ANACS G6 for the Draped Bust half dime, even though I was really trying for a F+ type set at the time. I've had two Draped Bust dimes ever. One was an 1805 in an early ANACS F12 holder, as I recall. I no longer have pics. The other is this 1798/7 which was made into a love token (it is datable because of the 16-star reverse). (Thinking about it, this is the only piece of 18th century US silver I have owned. I've had large cents, but no other 1700s silver.) I paid a buck for this, from a generous trading partner who knew full well he was giving me a steal.