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HomeUS CoinsNew Book on 1802 Half Dimes Released by Heritage Auctions

New Book on 1802 Half Dimes Released by Heritage Auctions

Obverse- 1802 Half dimes AU50 PCGS Valentine Specimen

Obverse, 1802 Half Dime, Valentine Specimen. PCGS AU-50. Image courtesy Heritage Auctions

 

Jon Amato examines the census of a classic American coin

The 1802 half dime is one of the great rarities in U.S. numismatics. It is without a doubt the key-date early half dime. Despite its notoriety as a classic numismatic rarity, less is known about the 1802 half dime’s mintage and survival rate than that of many other rare American coins … until now.

The new book Numismatic Background and Census of 1802 Half Dimes: A Classic American Rarity (Ivy Press, 2017) by Jon P. Amato documents the known examples of this important coin issue, including their level of preservation, provenance and their prices realized at auction.

Numismatic Census of 1802 Half Dimes by Jon Amato & Heritage Auctions“Collectors seeking to acquire one of these coveted rarities will have some idea of how many pieces exist in the various grade levels, and how much they might expect to pay for a particular specimen when it appears on the market,” Amato said.

The 64-page book chronicles the lone die pair used to strike all known 1802 half dimes, as well as the number of coins known to be struck by the U.S. Mint. Extensively researched, Amato went back to auction records as early as 1859 to document the 167 appearances of this issue for the nearly 140-year period ending in 1998.

“This is an extremely elusive coin and I wanted this book to put the known specimens in context while also offering collectors images of the known specimens,” Amato said. “This book will appeal to all numismatic collectors who are curious about this classic rarity.”

* * *

Numismatic Background and Census of 1802 Half Dimes: A Classic American Rarity
By Jon P. Amato, Ph. D., edited by James L. Halperin and Mark Van Winkle
Available from Ivy Press for $29.95 at HA.com.

Heritage Auctions
Heritage Auctionshttps://www.ha.com/
Heritage Auction Galleries is one of the world's largest collectibles auctioneers. Besides offering rare and valuable U.S. and world coins and currency, Heritage offers ancient coins, exonumia, antiques, comic books, sports memorabilia, and many other collectibles. The firm is based in Dallas, Texas.

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