1805 5 Berries

The 1805 5 Berries Draped Bust dime is the rarer of the two reverse-berry varieties for the year, despite carrying the standard five-berry olive branch. Combined 1805 dime mintage reached 120,780 pieces, the first time annual dime output crossed six figures in the series. Of that total, the 5 Berries variety represents a smaller share than the 4 Berries variant, making it the more challenging of the two for variety collectors to locate. Higher-grade examples are notably scarce, and Professional Coin Grading Service and Numismatic Guaranty Company census data shows meaningfully thinner populations for the 5 Berries reverse than for the more commonly encountered 4 Berries today.

Robert Scot's draped Liberty obverse, based on Gilbert Stuart's portrait of Anne Willing Bingham, pairs with the Heraldic Eagle reverse showing the eagle with shield, arrows, and a standard five-berry olive branch in the right talon, plus the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM on a banner above. Specifications follow the series standard: 89.24% silver, 2.70 grams, near 19 mm diameter, and reeded edge. Authentication requires confirmed weight, uniform edge reeding, and careful berry-count verification on the reverse. Five berries should be clearly visible along the olive branch under modest magnification. Match the coin to John Reich (JR) die marriages catalogued in Davis-Logan, and watch carefully for tooled or filled berries that could create a fraudulent variety designation.

Variety collectors pursue the 5 Berries to complete advanced 1805 reverse-variety sets, and the relative scarcity creates strong premiums over the 4 Berries variant in matched grades. Heritage Auctions and Stack's Bowers handle most significant offerings, with Professional Coin Grading Service and Numismatic Guaranty Company certification standard for serious examples. Heritage Auctions and Stack's Bowers Galleries archives are the most useful pricing references for tracking realized values across recent sales. For broader history of Mint engraving practice variations, see the Draped Bust Dime series history.