Truly original with nice gray surfaces and wonderful highlights of impressive details. An exceptionally rare piece with only 9 graded finer, several surely being resubmissions. The most recent auction record for an 1802 half dime was $300,000 for a coin graded PCGS XF45 (April 2006, Heritage). We actually sold that piece as a PCGS VF35 back in 1999.

The Famous 1802 Half Dime

The 1802 half dime is truly one of the great American rarities in any condition. Despite a reported mintage of 3,060 pieces, only a handful survive. Most estimates are around 35 pieces in all, with most in very low grade and a small cluster of lightly circulated examples at the top of the census. A surprising majority of specimens tend to be damaged, as well. The reason is unknown, but perhaps due to their small size and obscure rarity in the 19th Century.

The 1802 half dime is one of the most coveted of all American coins as they are truly rare, and were issued for general circulation, unlike 1804 silver dollars or 1827 quarters, which were restrikes made for collectors. Any collector of prized numismatic material would be proud to own this rarity.

The surfaces of this coin are medium toned overall with even, honest wear. We note a small, old mark in Liberty's hair which does not distract but does help in identification of this specific coin. Diagnostic rim crumbling is found above the E of UNITED and below the eagle's tail. On the obverse one also sees the diagnostic die line below BE to the top of Liberty's curls. In addition, weakness seen in the reverse stars and clouds is typical of the known specimens.

This example is new to the Logan-McCloskey census making it a very exciting discovery to the handful of known specimens.