1820 Large 0

The 1820 Large 0 Capped Bust dime carries a quiet milestone that most collectors miss at first glance. After the United States Mint struck the 1814 dime, dime production stopped completely for five straight years, with nothing dated 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, or 1819 leaving the Philadelphia coining presses. When the dime returned in 1820, the Mint pushed out 942,587 pieces, a figure that dwarfs the 421,500 mintage of 1814 and absolutely buries the 44,710 of 1809. That single year split into two main date-size varieties, where a date-size variety simply means the digits on the date were punched into the working dies at different physical sizes, and the Large 0 is the version where the final digit stands taller and wider than its Small 0 sister. A separate die-state error known as STATESOF, where letters in the legend ran together because of a worn or improperly spaced die, lives on its own page. The Large 0 is the first substantial Capped Bust dime year a collector can realistically chase, and for many specialists it functions as the entry point into the entire 1809-to-1837 design run from John Reich.

Authentication on a Large 0 dime starts at the scale and the date itself. The piece should weigh 2.7 grams on a calibrated jeweler's balance, and cast counterfeits, which were once a real problem for early silver, almost always read either light or heavy and show grainy, slightly soft surfaces under a ten-power loupe. The primary diagnostic for the variety is the 0 in the date, which should measure noticeably taller and wider than the 0 found on a Small 0 example, and serious buyers compare the date punch against the published die plates in the John Reich Collectors Society reference for the JR die marriage, where a JR die marriage is the specific pairing of an obverse die and a reverse die catalogued by that society. Holders from PCGS or NGC, the two leading third-party grading services, abbreviated together as TPG, attribute the Large 0 variety directly on the label, and MS, which is the Mint State abbreviation for an uncirculated coin, becomes scarce above MS-62. Reeded edge and proper coin alignment, where the reverse appears upside-down relative to the obverse, finish the checklist.

Survival is in the thousands rather than the hundreds, so circulated Large 0 dimes turn up at most major auctions and at well-stocked early-type dealers, but problem-free examples with original toning and full LIBERTY on the headband command a clear premium. Worn pieces in Good through Fine are reachable at moderate prices, while choice About Uncirculated coins move firmly into four figures, and certified Mint State examples climb steeply from there. For the full design arc, John Reich's portrait work, and the year-by-year mintage story that frames why 1820 matters, see the Capped Bust Dime series history.