1830 Medium 10C

The 1830 Medium 10C Capped Bust Dime carries the more common of two standardized reverse-size variants that closed out a brief period of denomination-punch experimentation. Philadelphia had spent 1829 trialing several sizes for the 10C value punch on the reverse, and by 1830 production narrowed onto two working sizes: a Medium 10C and a Small 10C, with the Medium issue arriving in larger numbers and pointing directly toward the standardized reverse that would settle in for 1831 and the years that followed. The combined Philadelphia mintage of 510,000 pieces covers this Medium variety, the Small 10C, and the rare 1830/29 Overdate. Designed by John Reich and struck on the small-diameter planchet adopted in 1828, the coin measures 18.5 millimeters across and weighs 2.7 grams in .8924 fine silver with a reeded edge. Multiple John Reich die marriages exist for the year, and collectors who pursue die-marriage variants find genuine depth within what looks at first like a single date.

Authentication starts with the reverse. Because the only structural difference between the Medium and Small varieties is the size of the 10C punch, attribution depends on careful comparison against published reference photographs; the Medium punch sits noticeably larger than the Small but smaller than the oversized trial punches seen on certain 1829 issues. Weight should fall close to the 2.7-gram standard, with diameter at 18.5 millimeters; underweight or undersized pieces almost always indicate a damaged, cleaned, or counterfeit example. Cast fakes betray themselves through grainy or pebbled surfaces under magnification, soft or mushy stars, and reeding that lacks the crisp vertical definition of a struck coin. Mint State survivors tend to show strong central detail on Liberty's cap and curls, while heavily circulated pieces lose the inner curl definition first. Third-party grading service attribution remains the most reliable confirmation, particularly for higher-grade examples where the price gap between varieties justifies the certification.

Survival is estimated in the low thousands across all grades, with most examples landing in Very Good through Extremely Fine condition; Mint State coins are scarce but obtainable for collectors willing to wait for the right offering. For the broader context behind these reverse-size shifts, the small-diameter redesign of 1828, and how the Capped Bust dime fit into the Mint's transition from the Draped Bust series toward the Seated Liberty redesign of 1837, see the Capped Bust Dime series history.