1840 No Drapery

The 1840 No Drapery is the closing chapter of the Stars No Drapery subtype at Philadelphia, struck through most of the calendar year before Mint Director Robert Patterson hired sculptor Robert Ball Hughes in late 1840 to modify the design. Liberty's left elbow on this coin meets the gown cleanly, with no fabric falling below it, the same composition Christian Gobrecht had used since the Stars hub arrived in 1838. The total Philadelphia delivery for the year was 1,358,580 dimes, split unevenly between the No Drapery output that ran through most of the year and the late-year Drapery subtype that followed Hughes's intervention. The No Drapery share is the smaller of the two, generally estimated in specialist circles at roughly one third of the combined total, which gives this issue a built-in scarcity premium against its Drapery sibling even before any other consideration enters the calculation.

Strike on the 1840 No Drapery runs comparable to the 1839 No Drapery work that preceded it, with Liberty's head detail and shield lines responding well to fresh dies and softening on later states. Authentication centers on the elbow first and original surfaces second. The elbow must show no drapery; any fabric there pushes the coin into the Drapery subtype, which trades at a different price point. The 2.67 g weight standard from the Mint Act of January 18, 1837 remains the simplest mechanical defense against cast counterfeits. Counterfeit pressure on the No Drapery is light, but reattribution risk is the real hazard: a raw coin photographed without a clear elbow shot can sit in commerce as the wrong subtype for years. Most certified survivors fall in the Fine through Extremely Fine range, with AU coins available with patience and Mint State coins genuinely scarce.

For a collector, the 1840 No Drapery is the standard closing entry for a Stars No Drapery subtype tray, sitting alongside the 1838 and 1839 Philadelphia issues and the 1838-O, 1839-O, and 1840-O branch coins as the type's full footprint. Date-set builders take it as their default 1840 choice if they want the earlier hub. Type-set builders working a single Stars No Drapery slot often choose this coin precisely because its supply is smaller than the Drapery siblings and its market price stays manageable. Acquisition strategy favors original surfaces and a clean elbow shot over high grade numbers; a problem-free XF with full diagnostic confirmation routinely outranks a brightened AU on collector demand. The Regular classification on the site reflects steady availability rather than abundance. For the broader story of Gobrecht's design, the No Stars to Stars to Drapery transitions, and the series' production arc, see the Seated Liberty Dime series history.