1838 Half Dimes

Set Description
After more than 20 years without any half dime production, the denomination was resumed in 1829 with a Capped Bust design similar to what had been in use in other denominations. That design continued on half dimes into 1837. In that year, the design was changed to Christian Gobrecht's vision of Liberty seated, holding a pole topped with a cap, and supporting a shield adorned with a ribbon with the word LIBERTY. There were no other design elements on the obverse, just the date. This is the so-called "No Stars" type.

For 1838, No Stars dies were used for the first New Orleans half dime production, but 13 stars were added around the figure on the dies used in Philadelphia. The stars would appear there in subsequent years at both mints through 1859. From 1860 until the end of the denomination in 1873, the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA replaced the stars on the obverse.

Mint workers apparently had trouble punching the stars into the dies properly in 1838 and into 1839 and 1840. At least nine 1838 dated half dime dies had at least one star repunched, leaving evidence of the earlier punch(es). Some of those were paired with more than one reverse die. So there are quite a few fairly easily identifiable die marriages employed for 1838 half dime production. In addition, some obverse dies without obvious star repunching were used.

One obverse die also suffered severe rusting. Despite the damage, the die stayed in use for some time. As rusting got worse, mint workers lapped the die to eliminate rust pits from the fields (but left the worsening effects in the design). This had the effect of causing the stars to appear progressively smaller. By the end of the die's use, a few of the stars were almost completely eliminated. This is the so-called "Small Stars" variety. That die was paired with two different reverse dies, yielding Valentine's V-1 and V-2 varieties. The obverse is easily identifiable by numerous lumps on Liberty's pole-holding arm, even in the earliest stages of its use. That is important to note, because the grading services often mis-attribute early stage V-1 Small Stars coins as Large Stars, and sometimes mis-attribute other varieties as Small Stars. (In fairness, lapping of other obverse dies can make their stars look somewhat smaller than normal. But it is the opinion of experts in LSCC that "Small Stars" should refer only to the 1838 V-1 and V-2.)

Reverse dies used in 1838 are distinguished mainly by die cracks, clash marks, recut letters, and other defects that are evident in the coins. Valentine states that one die used for some 1837 coins was also used for multiple 1838 varieties, presumably ending its use after it had developed a large area of deterioration at AMERICA, from rim to wreath. But during the course of building this set, and examining varieties of other issues, I discovered that the specific characteristics (primarily a "notched leaf" under D of DIME) of that supposedly single reverse die were present on multiple dies, even one used at the New Orleans mint. So it appears that (at least) two hubs were used to produce the non-split buds dies used for Liberty Seated Half Dimes from 1837 to 1840. (It may be that this was known before, but it has never been published and has not appeared in the Liberty Seated discussion boards. Similarly, I also discovered evidence that only a single hub was used to create all the split buds reverse dies used at both mints from 1840 to 1859.) However, also during the course of building this set, it has been determined that a single die has the notched leaf in its early state and no longer has that feature in later states, presumably due to lapping. Thus, more investigation is needed to determine whether there were actually two hubs in use at the time.

Set Goals
My goal is fairly simple: Obtain a nice example of every discernible die variety of 1838 half dimes. In some cases, different die states are obvious and obtainable. The Small Stars obverse is a good example. I plan to add such die states as well.

As far as die marriages go, the set may already be complete. But I do not yet have one Valentine die state, the V-1A. The V-1A simply has a different die state of the V-1 obverse die. It is recognized by a crack from the right rim through the two lower arms of star 13. That crack appears on all examples of the V-2, which uses the V-1 obverse with a different reverse die. Nevertheless, I would still like to obtain a V-1A.

Two of Valentine's varieties, the V-5 and V-9, are probably early die states of the V-4 and V-13, respectively. My reasoning follows:

Valentine says V-4 and V-5 used the same obverse, that V-4 uses the same reverse as V-2, and that V-5 uses the reverse of 1837 V-2 (which has the notched leaf feature). My observation is that the V-4 reverse has a weak notched leaf. So it is possible the same reverse was used, and that V-4 (and V-2 and V-11, all three with the same diagnostic clash at (DI)ME) came after V-5 (without that clash). Lapping could have reduced the prominence of the notched leaf features.

Liberty Seated Half Dime expert Stephen Crain stated (on the Liberty Seated message boards) that V-9 may not exist as a separate variety. Kevin Flynn's book identifies V-9 with a separate repunched stars obverse. But the only photo of it in the book shows only the first five stars, and they look just like those of V-13. As for the reverse dies, Valentine says V-9 uses the same one as V-5 (notched leaf). So, the V-9 reverse could be an earlier die state of the same reverse as V-13.