1829

The 1829 Capped Bust Dime is the first full year of production under the new 18.5 millimeter Small Type standard, the reduced diameter that arrived partway through 1828 when the Philadelphia Mint retired the larger early die layout and adopted a close collar to strike coins inside a fixed ring. Reported mintage for the year is 770,000 pieces, a figure that combines every die variety produced in 1829 rather than the output of any single working pair. The date is best known for an unusual run of reverse experimentation: the engraving department punched the denomination at four distinctly different sizes, generating the catalogued Small 10C, Medium 10C, Large 10C, and Extra Large 10C reverses, plus a Small over Large 10C overpunch and a Curl Base 2 obverse where the base of the date numeral curls back on itself rather than ending in a flat foot. The piece described here is the regular issue, meaning the main Medium 10C production where the reverse denomination falls within the expected proportion and no listed punch variety is present.

Diagnostics on a genuine 1829 begin with mass and dimension. Authentic survivors weigh close to 2.7 grams on a calibrated jewelry scale and measure 18.5 millimeters across with a fully reeded edge that meets the rim cleanly on both faces. The fabric should feel dense in hand because the planchet is .8924 fine silver, a hardness that produces sharp rim definition and crisp reeding rather than the soft, rounded look common to cast fakes. Counterfeits pulled from a mold typically show a faintly granular or pebbled texture in the open fields near Liberty's cap and under the eagle, along with seam traces along the edge where reeding interrupts or doubles back on itself. Higher grade examples and any piece that appears to be one of the scarcer denomination varieties are worth submitting to a major third party grading service, both for variety attribution and for the chain of custody a sealed holder provides.

Survival across all 1829 varieties combined runs into the low thousands, with the bulk of those coins falling in well circulated grades from Good through Very Fine, so most collectors encounter the date in moderately worn condition and look first for a full LIBERTY on the headband and clear stars around the obverse periphery. Mint State coins exist but are genuinely scarce, and choice examples with original gray patina and unbroken luster trade at strong premiums over their typed counterparts in slabs. For full context on how the close collar redesign reshaped the denomination and where each 1829 reverse variety fits within the broader die marriage record, see the Capped Bust Dime series history.