1801 H10C MS(PCGS#4267)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2039

Grade

VF35

Price

6,000

Lot Description

A very challenging type that usually comes heavily worn, impaired, or both. This handsome mid grade example is a notable exception with its warmly toned surfaces dressed in even pewter gray. Direct lighting calls forth subtle olive-gold undertones that further enhance already strong eye appeal. The detail is soft along the upper left obverse and lower left reverse borders, yet bolder in most other areas, and virtually all aspects of the design are appreciable. Some old, hard surface build up on the reverse is out of the way at the letters MER in AMERICA; no significant marks are seen.<p>Official records provide a mintage figure of 27,760 half dimes for calendar year 1801. Since the early United States Mint often used dies until they broke, the number of coins struck in any given year during that era seldom corresponds to the number of pieces produced bearing a specific date. Thus we have no way of knowing exactly how many 1801-dated half dimes were struck. For many years confusion also surrounded this issue with regard to the number of die varieties known. Prior to 1986, numismatists recognized only a single variety of this date. In 1986, however, we (Stack's) had the privilege of auctioning the discovery specimen for a new marriage featuring a different obverse die. Dubbed LM-1 in recent times, that variety exhibits close spacing between the letters LIB in LIBERTY and remains very rare.<p>The wider distance between the letters LIB confirm the present example as having been struck from the LM-2 die marriage, the more plentiful variety of the issue. The 1801 half dime is almost always offered in low grades irrespective of attribution, and its true rarity in high grades is often overlooked by collectors focused on the key date 1802. The offered Choice Very Fine example with rare CAC approval is equally well suited for advanced type purposes or inclusion in a premium early half dime set.