1835 Large Date, Large 5C

The 1835 half dime comes in four distinct varieties defined by two independent features: the size of the date numerals (Large or Small) and the size of the 5C denomination on the reverse (Large or Small). The Large Date, Large 5C is by far the most common of the four varieties, accounting for the majority of the year's 2,760,000 mintage. The other three varieties together represent less than 15% of total production, and each is collected separately by variety specialists.

The four varieties exist because William Kneass, the Chief Engraver, had multiple date and denomination punches in his inventory and used whichever were at hand when preparing each die. No formal policy dictated the punch selection; each die simply reflected which tools the engraver picked up on a given day. The Small Date Large 5C and Large Date Small 5C are the two scarcest of the four, with PCGS estimating only 250 survivors in each across all grades.

In August 1835, Kneass suffered a debilitating stroke that left him paralyzed on his right side and effectively ended his engraving career. Christian Gobrecht, who had joined the Mint as Second Engraver earlier that year, took over most of the die-cutting work for the remainder of 1835 and afterward. The 1835 half dimes span this transition. Dies cut before August came from Kneass; dies cut afterward came from Gobrecht. The Large Date, Large 5C likely spans the entire year as the most commonly produced variety and includes work from both engravers. A PCGS MS67 example sold for $27,600 at Heritage in 2006.