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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 8046544, member: 101855&quot;]Here is a little more information for you. </p><p><br /></p><p>The Philadelphia Mint began to use steam driven presses to strike coins in 1836. To make that work, Christian Gobrecht modified the Capped Bust design for the newly introduced technology. The design remained quite similar, but the diameter was reduced and the edges were reeded. The lettered edge could not be continued without the use a segmented collar surrounding the coin when it was struck. Otherwise the collar and the coin would be fused. </p><p><br /></p><p>The mintage was quite low for the 1836 Reeded Edge Half Dollar making it an expensive item today. The 1837 is much more common with a mintage of just over 3.6 million pieces. The 1837 half dollar is common enough to so that any collector, with the funds, can acquire one. </p><p><br /></p><p>There are die varieties of this coin. In 2012 Dick Graham published &quot;A Registry of Die Varieties of Reeded Edge Half Dollars.&quot; He identified 25 varieties of the 1837 half dollar. </p><p><br /></p><p>Gobrecht modified the design in 1838. The most noticeable change was the value, which was changed from &quot;50 CENTS&quot; to &quot;HALF DOL.&quot; Less noticeable is the fact that he strengthened the rims and made the lettering around the edge a bit more bold. Here are examples of both coins. </p><p><br /></p><p>1837 half dollar</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1392769[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>1838 half dollar</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1392770[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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