Check Your Varieties! 1814 10c Jr-5 Statesof

Here's a reminder that it pays to know and check your varieties! I recently snagged the capped bust dime below because it was incorrectly labeled by PCGS as an 1814 10C Large Date.




While this coin strictly speaking is a Large Date, it is more specifically JR-5 which is the famous STATESOF variety (where the reverse legend STATESOFAMERICA appears as one long word due to the engraver's misjudgment of spacing), and most TPGs including PCGS list it as a separate major entry.



In this grade, the STATESOF lettering is not extremely prominent, but JR-5 is uniquely identified by the placement of 10C on the reverse, which can allow you to pick up this variety even on well-worn corns in the FR-02 or PO-01 vicinity where the legend may not even be visible at all.

While the 1814 JR-5 is not a rare variety by any means (I estimate a survival of roughly 200-250 examples, giving it a rarity rating of R3+ (despite the fact that many references still list it as R4)), it is nonetheless very popular, worth roughly twice the other Large Date varieties in the respective grades.

It is also worth mentioning that the same reverse die was used once again in 1820, creating the 1820 JR-1 STATESOF variety which is just as popular. (The 1820 JR-1 is a bit scarcer; I estimate a survival of roughly 150-200 examples corresponding to a rarity rating of R4-.)