1800 Draped Bust Half Dime (LIBEKTY die variety)
Variety of the 1800 Draped Bust Half Dime struck at the Philadelphia Mint
- Mintage
- Not recorded
- Metal
- 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper
- Weight
- 1.35 g
- Diameter
- 16.5 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1800 Draped Bust Half Dime (LIBEKTY die variety) worth?
Value depends entirely on whether the coin is genuine and on its condition. Have any candidate authenticated before you buy or sell.
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1800 Draped Bust Half Dime (LIBEKTY die variety) rare?
- Yes. It's a variety or error, not a regular issue.
- Is the 1800 Draped Bust Half Dime (LIBEKTY die variety) silver?
- Yes. It's 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper and holds 0.0387 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1800 Draped Bust Half Dime?
- No mint mark. Struck in Philadelphia.
What to check on your 1800
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. Look at the hair and drapery on the obverse and the eagle's wings and shield on the reverse. Weak strikes are common.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more. Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1800
The heraldic eagle arrives (1798 to 1801)
No half dimes were struck in 1798 or 1799. When production resumed in 1800 the reverse showed the heraldic eagle. A shield covers its body and it holds an olive branch and arrows. A ribbon in its beak reads E PLURIBUS UNUM, with thirteen stars and a line of clouds above its head. There is still no denomination. The same heraldic eagle appeared on the dime and dollar from 1798 and later on the half dollar and quarter.
Philadelphia struck 40,000 half dimes in 1800, the largest total of the heraldic eagle years. The LIBEKTY variety comes from a damaged R punch with part of the letter missing, so LIBERTY seems to read LIBEKTY. In 1801 the Mint struck 27,760. Both dates are scarce today but available to collectors willing to look. The 1800 LIBEKTY is popular because the odd letter is easy to see without a magnifier.
Half dimes circulated hard and were often lost or melted, so most survivors are worn. Check the date and the reverse first, then the letters of LIBERTY. Strike weakness on the stars and clouds is normal for the period. Watch for holes, repairs and cleaning, which are common on such small coins. Logan-McCloskey numbers are used to attribute the dies. Like every early half dime, these coins come only from Philadelphia and carry no mint mark.
How to recognize it
Liberty faces right with her hair gathered by a ribbon at the back of her head, curls falling to her shoulder and drapery across her bust. LIBERTY is at the top and the date below, with stars on each side: fifteen in 1796, fifteen, sixteen or thirteen in 1797 and thirteen from 1800. Half dimes of 1796 and 1797 have a small eagle standing on clouds inside an open wreath. From 1800 the reverse shows the heraldic eagle with a shield on its breast, olive branch and arrows in its claws, a ribbon reading E PLURIBUS UNUM and thirteen stars beneath a band of clouds. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA runs around the edge. The coin is about 16.5 millimeters across, with a reeded edge, no mint mark and no denomination.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Draped Bust Half Dime (1796–1805) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1800 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | Not recorded |
| Face value | 5¢ |
| Composition | 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper |
| Weight | 1.35 grams |
| Diameter | 16.5 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0387 troy oz (1.205 g) |
| Designer | Robert Scot |
Other 1800 Draped Bust Half Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1800 Draped Bust Half Dime | 40,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0387 oz |
| 1800 Draped Bust Half Dime (LIBEKTY die variety) | – | Variety | 0.0387 oz |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.