Question About Populations And Where To Find Approximations

Hello CCF,

I "upgraded" by Draped Bust Half Cent last year from an 1804 (Plain 4, Stemless) one in solid AU condition for an 1800 one in low MS. I am really happy with my 1800 one now. I looked at populations on the PCGS site and was surprised that 1800, while not the scarcest in the series, seems to be one of the less populous ones. This surprised me because the 1800 one seemed to be the same price as 1804 ones (by far the most common, right?). Aside from looking at populations on the PCGS and NGC websites (many resubmissions probably inflate their numbers, right? And they also only count the certified ones...), do you have any suggestions for where I can find approximations for the number of total survivors of each year?

I also want to do this for all Draped Bust and Flowing Hair denominations. I "upgraded" (changed from NGC 58 to PCGS 50 with similar levels of detail) my 1805 4 Berries dime, which I think is the most "common" of that series to a 1798 dime (which I think is the third most common date in the series). While my type collection does include a bunch of "common dates" from different series, as many type collections often do, I am interested in choosing some dates that are slightly less common.

Which resources do you all use for population estimations?

Thanks.

Best,
Adam