Featured Capped Bust Dimes: A New Adventure

Last year I posted about tentatively completing my 1815-1828 bust quarter set. While I doubt I'll ever be able to completely stop buying them, I decided to try to assemble a well circulated capped bust dime set with the goal of putting them into the corresponding Dansco album (#6121). For the time being I don't want to afford the 1809, 1811/09, or 1822, and if I did ever buy them I would want them to be certified. Fortunately the 1809 and 1811/09 are on the first page of the album (with all of the expensive draped bust dimes), so I can easily ignore them or remove the first page entirely. I may get an 1822 Spanish or Mexican 1 real to fill the hole for the 1822. This leaves a total of 28 holes in the album for various dates and varieties.

My goal was to get well circulated coins that had an original appearance and without issues too severe for the grade. So far I've gotten 9 dimes since December, and I'm quite pleased with what I have so far and wanted to share them.

Something slightly interesting I've noticed after trolling eBay listings for several months is that the bust dimes tend to show up holed more frequently than the bust quarters do. It also seems that the quarters are more often encountered with improper cleaning than the dimes are.

Here's what I have so far (I recognize the images are not great):

1821 dime, large date, JR-4, R2



1823/2 dime, large E's, JR-2, R4+



1824/2 dime, flat top 1 in "10 C.", JR-1, R2



1831 dime, JR-1, R1



1832 dime, JR-1, R1



1833 dime, last 3 high, JR-5, R1



1834 dime, large 4, JR-6, R2



1834 dime, small 4, JR-7, R2



1836 dime, JR-3, R3



And a group picture of my first seven before they were put in the album.

 

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I'm using Early United States Dimes 1796-1837 for attributing and find it quite easy using this book. Some of the rarity ratings are a little outdated (especially for the varieties that were discovered in the few years preceding the publishing of the book. The main drawback is that since the book was published in 1984 it can be a bit tough to find and fairly pricey to buy (through from what I have read the price was far higher before the Bust Dime Variety Identification Guide was published in 2015). I definitely recommend this book to collectors of early U.S. coins.

 

Nice ones!

 

You have the foundation of a well matched set of CBD's. I like the 1823 in particular, still missing that one.
As you mention, the 1809, 1811 and obviously 1822 are the keys and difficult to obtain. I think you would have much less trouble with the 1811. Another one that I found somewhat difficult was the 1828 Large Date (large diameter, JR-2). For some reason that one tends to be priced beyond its true scarcity (in my opinion).
Wish you much success with your search - its a great series to collect. And that reminds me, I have not added a Bust Dime to my collection for a while..

 

Capped bust are my fav. I had 3 halves but had to let them go. Still sore from kicking myself. Restarting my collection and can't wait to find the right first one. Great collection.

 

Two more bust dimes to add to the set... 1829 JR-1, R4 and 1835 JR-3, R2. The 1829 has the “extra large ‘10 C.’” reverse that would be used later on in 1829 to strike the 1828 large date dimes. The 1835 doesn’t have any really “cool” back story but it has a nice circulation cameo look that puts it well within my specifications for this set.

 

I love the look of XF and higher capped bust dimes. But they're SO EXPENSIVE!

 

I completely agree... which is why I’m stuck down at the lower end of the grading scale. At least they’re not quite as bad as the quarters!

 

These are cool little coins, and yours appear to have aged quite well. Nice set!

 

It’s been awhile since I’ve bought any dimes. I’m starting to get to the point where the remaining coins are tougher to acquire for a reasonable price. However, here are two new additions to my set:

1830 JR-8, R3 (medium 10 C.)


1837 JR-2, R3

 

Here’s my most recent addition: an 1820 JR-1, R4 capped bust dime.



This reverse die has STATESOFAMERICA as one word due to poor letter spacing by the engraver. This die was first used to strike 1814 JR-5, R3.

There are some other 1820 reverses that look very similar to the true STATESOFAMERICA reverse, but only JR-1 is considered a true STATESOFAMERICA dime. If you buy a dime billed to be the STATESOFAMERICA, make sure the “10 C.” has a flat top one and the A’s are of the old, narrow style. Right now on eBay there is at least one coin advertised as having the STATESOFAMERICA reverse even though it isn’t JR-1.

Unlike most dies from its era, the STATESOFAMERICA die survived until 1962. According to the Early United States Dimes book, Robert Bashlow (of CSA restrike fame) obtained the die in 1962 and make several hundred impressions of it in Scotland. When he attempted to return to the United States, the die and the impressions were seized by customs. Despite pleas from the curator of the Smithsonian to spare the die, Treasury agents destroyed it.

This coin currently lives in an ANACS G4 holder. Depending on how badly I want to fill the hole in my bust dime album, I may crack it out. Other than protection, I don’t think that the coin significantly benefits from being in the ANACS holder since it’s low grade and unattributed.

 

Wow. Nice pickup, NSP! I love the capped Bust Dimes myself!

I believe that coin us undergraded. It looks VG to me.

 

An interesting and scarce variety. As you point out, it is actually scarcer than the 1814 StatesOfAmerica, JR-5.
Nice addition, NSP! I am still missing that one.

 

Capped bust dimes are very fun to collect. The only problem for me is that they skyrocket in price with anything above GO06.

Here's an 1823 small E's I bought from an LCS. I know it is horribly damaged with the hole and plug but I couldn't pass it up at the price of $7. Though I felt it had very nice details, had it not had so many problems I wouldn't be able to afford it.

 

Here’s a new addition: the 1828 small date (JR-1, R2). 1828 was a transitional year for dimes where a close collar was used to strike them for the first time. Chief Engraver William Kneass also made some modifications to the design. The 1828 small date pairs a new Kneass-style obverse and an old Reich-style reverse. The 1828 large date, on the other hand, pairs an old Reich-style obverse and a new Kneass-style reverse.

The official mintage is listed as 125,000, but the authors of the EUSD book suggest that 90,000 of these were actually dated 1827. They believe that the remaining 35,000 make up the entire mintage of 1828 small date dimes. In 1829, an unknown number of 1828 large date dimes was struck.

The coin currently resides in a G04 PCGS holder.



For those keeping score, I currently have the following 16 capped bust dimes:
1820 STATESOF
1821 small date
1821 large date
1823/2 large E’s
1824/2
1828 small date
1829 large 10 C. (Mine is actually extra large)
1830 medium 10 C.
1831
1832
1833
1834 small 4
1834 large 4
1835
1836
1837

I am still missing the following 12 dimes:
1814 small date
1814 large date
1814 STATESOF
1820 large 0
1820 small 0
1823/2 small E’s
1825
1827
1828 large date
1829 small 10 C.
1829 medium 10 C.
1830 small 10 C.

As I mentioned earlier, I have elected to omit the following three dates because I can’t justify shelling out for them (yet).
1809
1811/09
1822

 

A nice example of the 1828 JR-1! You are making very good progress with your collection.
1828 is an underrated date, specially the JR-2, large date.

Concerning the differences between JR1 and JR-2: it is now believed that both JR-1 and JR-2 were struck in a closed collar, and both have in fact the same diameter.

The key difference is the different obverse of JR-2 which has a larger date, curl base 2 and more widely spaced denticles in the old style of 1809-1827.
This was news to me. This information is contained in the recent 4th edition of the Mega Red Book which has en extended section dedicated to dimes. Very interesting read.

 

nice, have fun

 

It has been over nine months since I last purchased a bust dime... but the drought is over! I recently acquired this 1827. 1827 is the most common date for the 1809-1827 open collar sub-series, but for some reason it took me nearly two years to find one that was original, undamaged, not too terribly worn, and not too overpriced. It is a JR-4, R2.

 

Nice example of the JR-4, @NSP. As you say, original and showing still a good amount of detail.

Like you, I haven't added a single new example to my CBD collection for quite a while now. Would not mind an upgrade to my VF 1828 JR-2.