The GFRC Open Set Registry Community Project

Capped Bust Dimes - Ultimate Set

A set of Capped Bust Dimes complete by variety is no easy task with 122 coins including 6 R7s, a fair portion of R3 and R4 coins yet many R1s. The pursuit of the major varieties collection requires patience and persistence, but also provides for those who love the thrill of the hunt - these beauties grow on you quite quickly. The reference book used to attribute them Early United States Dimes 1796-1837 by David J. Davis, Russell J. Logan, Allen F. Lovejoy, John W. McCloskey and William L. Subjack. It was published in 1984 by the John Reich Collectors Society. Capped Bust Half Dime collector would recognize Russell Logan and Liberty Seated Collectors would recognize John McCloskey's name - the current President. Their 279 page book is considered the 'Bible' among collectors and dealers alike. While not in color, it gives a very pleasing picture of every variety obverse and reverse. This book covers earlier dimes too, but this is beyond the scope of Capped Bust Dimes. The authors describe Emission Order, Die Deterioration and Diameters by year. Their quick finding charts are very helpful in determining the correct variety number for any date.

Capped Bust Dimes came from either open collar or closed collar minting process starting in 1828. There is an overlap of these methods in 1828. Like other capped bust coins, the numbers of pale gules on the reverse shield is either 2 or 3 making for interesting collecting goals by themselves. Early dime production was erratic - no dimes dated 1810 were struck and none were minted in 1812, 1813, 1815-1819 or 1826. There were two designers for this series - John Reich and William Kneass. Many Bust coin collectors like John Reich's work but William Kneass introduced an innovative new coining method as part of a long-range project to improve striking quality, wearability and stacking characteristics. Compare for yourself to see your opinion of the difference over those years and enjoy the coins!

- John Okerson

Rating: The weighted average of all coin grades (i.e. aggregated sum of each coin grade + CAC premium multiplied by its rarity factor divided by the sum of all rarity factors). Missing coins are included and assigned a grade of 0. This metric is the basis for order rank.

Complete: The number of coin entries divided by the total number of coins in the Set.

Weighted Grade: The weighted average of all coin grades (see calculation above), but excluding any missing coins.

%: The ratio of coins certified by CAC (either green or gold sticker). Calculated as the number of CAC coins divided by the total number of entered coins.

Rarity Factor: The rarity assessment for each date/variety uses the Sheldon scale of R1 through R8 with a R1 weight being the most common while an R8 weight being the most difficult to locate. Rarity estimates are by John Okerson.