1823 1823/2 Small Es

The 1823/2 Small Es Capped Bust dime carries two distinctions stacked on a single planchet, and the scarcer of the two reverse varieties is what pulls specialists to this entry. Every 1823 dime is an overdate: the Mint pressed leftover 1822 working dies back into service and repunched fresh 3s over the underlying 2s, so the digit ghost is structural rather than incidental. The reverse then splits the year into two collecting targets, separated by the size of the letter E in the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. On the Small Es reverse the E characters stand notably shorter and narrower than on the Large Es pairing, a reverse-letter variety that the John Reich Collectors Society catalogs across the JR-1 and JR-2 die marriages. Survival across the combined 440,000-piece 1823 emission runs into the low thousands of identifiable pieces, and within that pool the Small Es appears less often than the Large Es, particularly in higher grades.

Authentication on this dime hinges on direct measurement before any other check. The defining diagnostic is reverse-letter size: the E in STATES on the Small Es reverse measures roughly 20 percent shorter than the E on the Large Es reverse, and side-by-side comparison against a confirmed plate photo settles attribution before grade is even discussed. Weight should sit at 2.7 grams on a calibrated scale, with diameter at 18.8 millimeters and a fully formed reeded edge running cleanly between obverse and reverse rims. Cast counterfeits surface in this series and almost always fail texture inspection under a loupe, showing a grainy, slightly pebbled surface in the protected fields rather than the smooth flow lines a struck die leaves behind. Overdate confirmation requires seeing the underlying 2 inside the loop and base of the 3 on the date, not a vague blur, and the digit relationship should match published JR plates exactly. For market-grade pieces, slab attribution from PCGS or NGC, the two leading third-party grading services (TPGs), is the cleanest path, since both services note the Small Es variety on the label when it is correctly identified.

Conditional rarity climbs sharply above the circulated grades. Most surviving examples sit in the Very Good through Very Fine range with honest wear, and problem-free Extremely Fine coins already demand attention. Mint State (MS) survivors of the Small Es are genuinely scarce, materially harder to locate than Mint State Large Es pieces, and original-skin examples with even toning and intact luster anchor the top of the population. Eye appeal across the date is undermined by light striking on the high points of the cap and the eagle's claw, so a sharply struck Small Es with full design definition deserves a premium beyond its assigned grade. For series context, mintage patterns, and how the 1823 overdate fits the broader run, see the Capped Bust Dime series history.