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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 4560513, member: 101855&quot;]Recently [USER=8959]@Eduard[/USER] posted pictures of a very nice group of early U.S. dimes. I mentioned that the 1797, 16 star dime had hash marks under the stars. The die maker etched these small marks into the die face so that he could position the stars on the coin properly.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the early days of the U.S. mint, an additional star was added to the obverse of the silver and gold coins each time a new state was added to the Union. When Tennessee joined the Union on June 1, 1796, the number of states reached 16. At that point, Chief Mint Engraver, Robert Scot, came to the conclusion that there was not enough room on the coin to add more. He cut back the number to 13 in honor of the 13 original states on the last half dime die he made in 1797. The 1797 half dime is the only coin that had 15, 16 and 13 star varieties on the obverse in a single year. Here are examples of the three coins in the order in which they were issued:</p><p><br /></p><p>The 15 star coin was issued first</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128950[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Then came the 16 star coin</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128951[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>And the 13 star coin was last</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128952[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>If Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796, why didn&#039;t any of the 1796 coins have 16 stars? The answer had to do with mint procedures. Robert Scot produced dies ahead of time. He made them with the first three digits of the date punched in with the final number to be added when the die was placed in service. The 16 star dies were not used until 1797.</p><p><br /></p><p>Evidence of this can been seen from the three coins shown above. Note that the second &quot;7&quot; in the date is different from the first one on the 15 and 16 star coins:</p><p><br /></p><p>Sorry about the quality of this photo on the 15 star piece, but I don&#039;t have access to my coins to take a better photo. The second &quot;7&quot; on this piece is slightly smaller and does not have a serif.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128955[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>It is much clearer on this photo of the 16 star coin. The second &quot;7&quot; is larger.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128956[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>On the 13 star variety, the &quot;7s&quot; were appearantly entered with the same punch in one operation. They are too large for the coin (probably intended for dimes) and the same size.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128957[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Getting all 16 stars on the die had to have been a challenge for Scot. Although it&#039;s much more obvious on the 1797, 16 star dime, hash marks are visible on the 1797, 16 star half dime as well. Note the undertype on the star next to the &quot;Y.&quot; I once owned a 1797, 16 star dime, but I sold it when I upgraded the coin in my type set. Unfortunately, you can&#039;t afford to keep everything.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1128965[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Small details like this don&#039;t mean very much to most collectors, but if you collect a series in detail, it provides you with some insights as to how the early U.S. coins were made.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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