Capped Bust Dime (1809-1837)
Mint Mark Information

The US Mint hired German immigrant John Reich as Assistant Engraver in 1807. Reich came to America as an indentured servant several years earlier, but was released from this obligation by US Mint officials seeking his employment.

Reich’s salary was $600 a year, quite meager for a talented die sinker, even by early 19th century standards. He immediately went to work on developing new designs for several US coin types.

Reich got started with the half dollar, for which he adapted the Capped Bust theme. He didn’t get around to addressing the ten cent denomination for a couple of years.

The Spanish reale, worth 12.5 cents face value, was circulating in America in respectable quantities, was recognized as legal tender (as were most foreign coins in those years), and filled the need for small coinage in commercial transactions. These circumstances pushed the dime to the lower end of Reich’s priority list. In fact, absolutely no US dimes were struck in 1808, as the Mint patently awaited Reich’s new dies.

The first of the Capped Bust Dimes were released in 1809. Production was very spotty early on. Only in the years 1809, 1811, and 1814 were dimes issued; it wasn’t until 1820 that dime production became a consistent annual activity at the Mint.

Reich continued as a coin engraver for ten years, but never received a pay raise. Finally, in 1817, he told his bosses at the Mint to shove it and walked out. Adaptations of Reich’s work remained on US coinage until 1907.

Capped Bust Dime Obverse

Capped Bust Dime Reverse

No Capped Bust Dime of any date has a Mint Mark, as summarized on the table below:

The last of the Capped Bust Dimes were released in 1837. That is also the final year the Philadelphia Mint was the sole government coining facility in the United States, so the use of a Mint Mark was not used, since all coins came from Philadelphia. This explains why the Capped Bust Dime is absent a Mint Mark.

The following year, 1838, US branch mints opened in Charlotte, NC, Dahlonega, GA, and New Orleans, LA. With multiple coining facilities, Mint Marks were necessary to determine where any US coin, 1838 and later, was struck.

Throughout all this, Philadelphia still did not use a Mint Mark; it was understood that any coin without a Mint Mark came from the City of Brotherly Love.

The Capped Bust Dime at right is displayed thanks to  Goldberg Coins.

The supply of Capped Bust Dimes is good, so most dates are affordable to collectors even with modest budgets. The key dates are 1822 and 1829 (curl base 2 variety). Because they're key dates, they have a tendency to trend higher in value at a faster rate than their more common date counterparts. The first and second boxes below are windows to eBay, searching for certified examples of the 1822 and 1829 (curl base 2 variety) respectively. The third box locates all other certified Capped Bust Dimes.

1822 Capped Bust Dime

1829 Curl Base 2 Capped Bust Dime

1809-37 Capped Bust Dimes