1809 Capped Bust Half Dollar Diameter

Same as the large cents, yes. They were struck open collar so that the edge lettering would not be obliterated. Each bust half will vary on its diameter. The closed collar striking begins with the 1836 reeded edge half.

Are you working on a date set, Ray?

As a parallel, British milled coinage before the Great Recoinage of 1816 had a small variation in diameter within each denomination.
I would expect that with similar methods of manufacture, all American half dollars up to 1836 would also have small variations in diameter.

You will find the variations in bust halves quite interesting I'm sure. The dies were hand crafted and coins were struck on manual screw presses. Each die pairing created a unique marriage of obverse and reverse for the coins. (aka an Overton). Keep in mind that the Overton order is not the actual emission order of the halves. You will need to find the Leaman-Gunnet emission order tables to see the actual order in which the coins were produced. From that document, you will see that many coins were not produced the same year as the die dating.

Somehow they did by looking at the lettering impressions coming out of the Castaing machines used. It's surprising to see 1834's still being minted in 1836 (1834 o.110), but it makes sense. Dies were very difficult to craft in those days and you used them as long as possible.

I am still looking for a copy of the journal in which they published their study. I would love to read the methods they used to determine the exact order. It would be a really good read, IMO.

I can see how that might be possible, Conder. If you primarily work with Mint State or well-struck coins, they'll provide accurate results. But boy, that's a painstaking piece of work. I am in awe. Were the Overton varieties pretty much done by then? You could use the Castaing results to help reinforce die usage progressions, and vice versa. Where are we at with the Castaing dies themselves? Are they identified somewhere?

Leaman and Gunnet published their emission order in 1987, twenty years after the first edition of Al Overton's book. I would not be surprised if it was involved in their process, SuperDave :)

Thx, meadow...I just ordered a used copy of it for cheap!

I plan on reading their work and hope to gain a better understanding of it.

Glad I could help you both acquire copies of the book. I try to keep my eye out for book related questions and provide input when I can.



-MV