Capped Bust Half Dollars
The 1807 version of the capped bust type of coins depicted left faced lady liberty adorned with a cap tied at the base with a headband engraved LIBERTY, with locks of her hair beautifully kissing her shoulder, her deep cleavage is covered by a cloth or wrapped by a gown aesthetically affixed by a breastpin onto her shoulder. The right side contains seven stars while the left has six of it with the date of manufacture inscribed at the bottom. The rear side shows an Eagle resting on an olive twig holding three arrows with left claws, E PLURIBUS UNUM or the traditional USA maxim above on a parchment & UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 50c girdling the edge of the coin with 50 CENTS or HALF A DOL. below.
While coins in the range of 1820-1830 are easily available, some earlier dated coins in the span of 1807-1820 are very rare to find & also without any issues as they are found in very proficient preservation. Market flow of these pieces were not so abundant & thus the currency showed a trafficking between Banks (as silver dollars were not allowed for transmission in the span of 1803-1840).
Although among the untransmitted coins some shows rubbing or abrasion at the bottom left corner of the bust due to friction among coins in bank containers, some pieces, especially ones from the higher spans are delicately preserved showing agility of inscription typically on the stars & the upper parts of Miss Liberty & on E PLURIBS UNUM on the back side of the coins.
These type of coins enjoyed great market value & from sundry collectors due to their easy accessibility, availability, comparatively lower price, enchanting star shapes & many other specialties. Al. C Overton’s handbook provides guidance to the coin aggregators about this ultra fascinating series. The year 1836 gifted the Philadelphia mint another new innovative form of capped bust half dollar produced by just introduced steam energized presses. John Reich’s this classic capped bust design was revamped by Christian Gobrecht giving this type of coins a smaller width & the rim a quilled look. While the front preceded the older style of left faced Miss Liberty liberty adorned with a cap tied at the base with a headband engraved LIBERTY & similar other details, the only difference was E PLURIBUS UNUM no longer seem to appear on a parchment below the girdle & above the Eagle.
In 1837, around 3.6 million pieces of quilled rim coins were produced making them abundant in excellent grades than those of preceding year as only 1,200 pieces were circulated in 1836. Although in 1838, a revamped version of half dollars were struck around 20 only with moderations mainly in the strata of backside letters & in attributes of Eagle, in 1839, around 179,000 pieces of these type of coins were made at New Orleans showing the mintmark at the top of front date.