Lot 1704

Logan-McCloskey Plate Coin, Page 142. Attractive pewter gray with very faint traces of iridescent toning on each side. Very sharply struck with pleasing surfaces. A few very faint surface marks are present on both obverse and reverse. A pleasing example with considerable eye appeal.

This is a relatively common die marriage with both Proof and circulation strike examples known. Tied for seventh finest of 18 coins reported in the JRCS Bust Half Dime Census.

Very faint clash marks are visible on both sides.

Both obverse and reverse dies were used only for this single die marriage, listed as the first variety of the Capped Bust design in the Logan-McCloskey reference. Just three 1829 varieties have "three pale gules" reverse dies, the other two varieties die-linked to later "two pale gules" varieties. This variety is considered the first Capped Bust half dime minted as it is not die-linked to other varieties.

In heraldry, a gule is the vertical stripe in the shield, and a pale is an individual line being a single element of the gule. The term "three pale gule" simply states that each vertical shield stripe consists of three individual lines.

Among half dimes dated 1829 in the present sale, a total of 28 different coins are offered. These coins represent 18 different die marriages. Including remarriages, there were a total of 25 combinations described in the Logan-McCloskey reference. Only LM-16.2 is not included in the present collection, representing the single remarriage among all Capped Bust half dimes not offered in this sale. A remarkable achievement. All of these 1829-dated coins were produced from a combination of six obverse dies and 10 reverse dies.

The Capped Bust half dimes were from dies prepared by William Kneass in imitation of John Reich's earlier work. Reich had left the Mint's employment a dozen years before these coins were first minted. Today, 91 die marriages are known with 31 additional remarriages as outlined in the reference Federal Half Dimes by Russell J. Logan and John W. McCloskey. These coins were produced from various combinations of 29 obverse dies and 36 reverse dies, many of the latter being used through two or more different coinage years. For most of these years, IA Guidebook of United States CoinsI (a.k.a. the redbook) only lists the date without further variety details. In his IComplete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins,I Walter Breen summarized these varieties in 25 separate listings, providing identification characteristics, historical notes, and some pure speculation without basis. Many of the coinage dies used during the nine year production of this series were pushed beyond reasonable limits, thus creating a wonderful array of die states for collectors today.

An Interesting Incident

On March 2, 1829, Congress appropriated $120,000 for a new Mint building to replace the one in use since 1792. Land on Chestnut Street above 13th Street, near the corner of Juniper Street was purchased. INile's Weekly Register,I July 18, 1829, included this item as an exchange from the IPhiladelphia Gazette:I

"Mint of the United States. The foundation stone of the edifice about to be erected. . . was laid on the morning of the fourth of July at 6:00, in the presence of the officers of the Mint, and a number of distinguished citizens. Within the stone was deposited a package, securely enveloped, containing the newspapers of the day, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, of the Constitution of the United States, and of the farewell address of George Washington; also specimens of the national coins, including one of the very few executed in the year 1792, and a half dime coined on the morning of the fourth, being the first of a new emission of that coin, of which denomination none have been issued since the year 1805."