1829 Capped Bust Half Dollars : All Varieties

Lettered Edge

Mintage: 3,712,156

Minted at: Philadelphia (No Mint Mark)

Designer - Engraver: John Reich

Metal Composition: 89% Silver - 11% Copper

Diameter: 32.5 mm

Mass / Weight: 13.48 grams

What This Coin Looks Like (Obverse, Reverse, Mint Mark Location, Special Features, etc.):

There were a few varieties of the 1829 Capped Bust Half Dollar. The two major varieties deal with the size of the lettering in the words 'UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" on the reverse of the coin. One variety had smaller letters and the other had larger letters. It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish the size difference between the letters - so it is often easier to observe the spacing between the words in order to identify the variety. First observe the spacing between the words "UNITED" and "STATES". The large letter variety will have very little spacing whereas the small letter variety will always tend to have much more spacing. Also look at the spacing between the words "OF" and "AMERICA". There will be almost no spacing between the words in the large letter variety but there will be a bit more spacing in the small letters variety. Note: There are a few types of the small letters variety and the spacing and orientation of the words will be slightly different - Although there is only one "large letters" variety which will always have the same spacing. The difference between the 1829 small letters vs large letters capped bust half dollar varieties is depicted above in the example comparison image.

The other major variety is the 1829/7 (9 Over 7) overdate in which the coin die had an 1829 date struck over an 1827 date. This resulted in doubling of the "182" portion of the 1829 date - as well as parts of the underlying "7" being revealed near the bottom of the "9" in the date as depicted below in the example image: