Values
A Capped Bust dime is the ten-cent coin between the draped bust and the seated Liberty. This page is a series reference, not a price list.
The mintage chart leaves G, VF, and MS-63 blank. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not cover this piece. Do not paste an auction hammer into the grade columns.
If you have one and want to sell it, start with how to sell a coin collection. The Draped Bust dime is the previous type. The Seated Liberty dime is the next.
Key Dates
1809 opens the large-diameter cap. The size comes down in the late 1820s. 1837 is the last year of the cap, and the first year of the seated dime.
None of those markers is a mintage row. The source used here has no year list.
Errors
No table. An empty chart is the honest state. A large-size coin and a reduced-size coin are still this series.
Seated dime dated 1837. Liberty on a rock is not a cap on a pole. File it on the seated page.
Half dime called a dime. The cap-and-pole half dime is smaller and it has its own page from 1829.
Compare the coin to the NGC Coin Explorer. That category starts with the draped bust. We do not host their plates.
Varieties
Large size, then a reduced diameter late in the run. Both stay on this page. 1837 also begins the seated dime, which is the other series. This page does not list every die marriage inside the cap.
- Large diameterThe 1809 start, through the 1820s. It is still a capped bust dime.
- Reduced diameterThe size comes down late in the run and continues through 1837. A seated figure is not this reduced cap.
Names follow PCGS CoinFacts and NGC, the same publishers this site already cites. This is a name list, not a price list and not a count.
Mintage
Capped Bust dimes from 1809 through 1837, including the later reduced diameter.
| Year | Mint | Mintage | G | VF | MS-63 |
|---|
Mintage: the note under this table names the page that printed each count. These figures are not an NGC Coin Explorer extract and they are not the 1974 Mint pamphlet.
Collector-standard year/mint presentation follows A Guide Book of United States Coins (the Red Book). These cells are Mint manufacture figures, not a Red Book net or melt.
Values: NGC US Coin Price Guide, retrieved 2026-08-21. Guide values, not offers. Not melt. NGC IDs link to the same publisher’s price-guide listing.
Key date names: NGC Coin Explorer. Bold rows are only dates that publisher named.
The chart is empty on purpose. The Wikipedia dime article does not print a year-by-year mintage table. Large and reduced are one type on this page. Because the coin is a circulation type, a future table of those year counts would belong here. A remembered count does not.
The grade columns are empty because this site has no NGC guide extract for this coin.
Specifications
These are mint specs, not what a dealer pays. Wear can take a little weight off. We will not invent a tolerance. The diameter changes inside the type, and the silver standard changes in 1837, so one weight is not printed. No catalog page used here prints a thickness.
| Specification | Figure |
|---|---|
| Diameter | Not printed |
| Thickness | Not printed |
| Weight | Not printed |
| Composition | 1792 standard silver until the Act of January 18, 1837, then 900 fine |
| Edge | Not printed on a cited catalog page |
| Designer | John Reich, kept by later engravers |
No catalog page used for the Capped Bust dime prints a thickness. Diameter and thickness stay Not printed. Large and reduced diameters share this page, so one diameter is not printed.
Grading
A Capped Bust dime wears first on the cheek and the cap, and on the eagle’s breast.
Large and reduced diameters are both this type. A seated Liberty is not.
Key Diagnostic Areas
| Area | What to examine | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | The cap, the pole, and the cheek. | The high points go first. The stars can still look complete. |
| Diameter | Large module or reduced module. | The size change is a planchet, not a grade and not a different denomination. |
| Eagle | The breast feathers and the value. | A smooth breast is wear. Read the value before you call it a half dime. |
| Date | 1809 through 1837. | 1837 seated dimes are the next series. |
Circulated & Mint State
These cards describe this coin, not a second copy of the P-1 through MS-70 chart. The shared numbers live on the glossary.
See graded photos. The photos that show what VF looks like live at PCGS. We do not host their plates. NGC Coin Explorer is another look if you want a second set.
What each named grade looks like on this design.
Poor
Poor
A disk you can still call a Capped Bust dime if you already know the type.
- The cheek and the eagle are gone.
- The date may be a shadow. Do not scrape it.
- Shine does not make this a better coin.
AG
About Good
You might read a digit. The high points on this Capped Bust dime are already slick.
- The cheek and the eagle are worn to a blank patch.
- If you cannot read the date without hoping, stay here.
- A 1820 is still this grade if it is this worn.
Good
Good
The date is readable. The design is still mostly an outline.
- The cheek and the eagle are flat. The type is an outline, not a portrait.
- The rim should be full enough to hold the legend.
- This is a worn coin, not a details story.
VG
Very Good
The date is clear. A little life returns away from the high points.
- Some leftover detail sits away from the cheek and the eagle.
- The high points are still tired.
- Do not clean the date to “see it better.”
Fine
Fine
You can follow the design. The high points are outlined, not sharp.
- The cheek and the eagle are outlined and flat — no real sharpness yet.
- The rest of the coin can look busier than the grade.
- The date should be clear. The mint mark should be too, if there is one.
VF
Very Fine
The type is doing real work. The cheek and the eagle still decide.
- Leftover detail sits on the cheek and the eagle. The centers are still the worn spot.
- Marks do not raise the grade.
- A regular 1820 is still this grade if it is this worn.
EF
Extremely Fine
Most of the coin looks sharp. The high points tell on it.
- Light wear on the cheek and the eagle.
- The rest of the coin can look better than the grade. Trust the high points.
- The date should be sharp.
AU
About Uncirculated
Almost no wear — and “almost” lives on the same high points.
- A trace of rub on the cheek and the eagle.
- Luster may still sit in the fields. Rub on those high points is still rub.
- A bright coin with a slick high point is still slick.
Basal MS
Mint State
No wear. The fight is marks and luster, not how white the coin looks.
- No rub on the cheek and the eagle.
- Marks and luster decide how this mint-state coin lives.
- A bright chewed-up coin is still chewed-up.
Choice
Choice Mint State
Still no wear. Cleaner fields than basal mint state.
- Same no-wear rule on the cheek and the eagle.
- Fewer marks in the fields. Luster is more intact.
- White is not a grade.
Gem
Gem Mint State
A clean Capped Bust dime for this type. Still mint state, still not a story.
- No wear on the cheek and the eagle.
- Marks and luster, not a romance about a date or a white field.
- A slab is an opinion in plastic. The glossary has the numbers.
This page does not invent a PR price grid. The proof numbers live on the glossary.
Copper color designations do not apply to this silver coin. See the Lincoln Wheat cent and the glossary.
Overview
The Capped Bust dime runs from 1809 to 1837. Liberty faces left with a cap on a pole. The reverse eagle carries the denomination. Early dates are the larger module. Later dates are smaller. Both stay on this page. This series is the Capped Bust dime as one type, and the two diameters are not given invented charts.
The photograph is an 1820 Capped Bust dime, the larger diameter, from the National Numismatic Collection. Later dates on this page are smaller. Do not grade every dime as if it were that plate.
This page is a series article, not a shop listing.
History
Draped Bust dimes end in 1807. This cap starts in 1809. The Mint kept the design while it reduced the diameter, then replaced it with the seated dime in 1837. The January 1837 change in silver fineness also lands inside the last year. That is why the spec table does not pretend there is one planchet.
The dime article used for this page is a design history. It is not a mintage ledger. The ledger stays blank.
Design
Obverse: capped Liberty, stars, the date below. Reverse: eagle and the statement of value. Philadelphia coins of this era have no mint mark.
The cheek and the cap are the high points. A smaller diameter is a late-series planchet, not a different denomination. A seated portrait is the next dime.
People Also Ask
Why is the chart empty?
The dime article does not print a year-by-year mintage table for Capped Bust dimes. This page will not supply the years from memory.
Are large and reduced dimes the same page?
Yes. This page is the whole Capped Bust dime, 1809–1837. The diameter changes late in the run. It is still this type, and it is not the seated dime.
Does 1837 include a seated dime?
Seated Liberty dimes also begin in 1837. A seated figure is the other series.
How much is a Capped Bust dime worth?
This page does not print guide prices. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not include this coin. An auction result is not a guide cell.
Collector Considerations
Measure the coin if you are unsure whether it is the large module or the reduced one, and keep both on this page. Send a seated 1837 to the seated dime page.
Do not borrow quarter or half-dollar mintage tables. Those articles exist. This dime does not have one in the file.
The Capped Bust half dime is the five-cent cousin from 1829. It is easier to mix them up than the portraits suggest.
A Final Word
The Capped Bust dime page is a cap, two diameters, and an empty chart. The missing table stays missing.
An auction story is not a mintage.