This listing is for the photographed 1817 Capped Bust Half Dollar. Great coin for a collection and competitively priced. More details below. VG Details, Cleaned.
- All of our coins and banknotes are authentic. With over 100 years of combined experience, the TreasureHunter name is a name you can trust.
- Type Capped Bust* (read more below)
- Excellent option for a rare coin at a reasonable cost.
*Capped Bust:
The capped-head concept of Liberty was designed by John Reich. Born in Furth, Bavaria in 1768, he later immigrated to Philadelphis in 1800. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson recommended Reich be hired as an engraver. Though he was unable to gain a full-time position of engraver, Reich was hired for other duties.
In 1807, Chief Engraver Robert Scot hired Reich as assistant engraver. Robert M. Patterson, the mint's director, then assigned Reich to redesigning most of the coins that were then in circulation. He replaced the Draped Bust design of Scot's with his own design, the Capped Bust.
It proved to be a popular design and lasted from 1807 to 1839 on the half dollar, 1815 to 1838 on the quarter, 1809 to 1837 on the dime, and 1829 to 1837 on the half dime. All four of these coin were struck in 89.2% silver and 10.8% copper.
There was also a gold design created by engraver Robert Scot created in 1795, also called the Capped Bust, although it is more popularly known as the "Turban Head" because of its unusual, exotic appearance. The Turban design was used on the gold Quarter Eagle, Half Eagle, and Eagle from 1795 to 1834. On the Quarter and Half Eagles, the Turban design was replaced with the regular Capped Bust design in 1808 and 1807, respectively, while the Eagle, having been out of production since 1804, adopted the "Coronet" Liberty Head design in 1838.
The obverse of the 2008 Andrew Jackson's Liberty First Spouse coin and medal features the Capped Bust design.
1817 Capped Bust Half Dollar - VG, Cleaned; Great Date - 1817 Half Dollar US Half Dollar 1817, Rare Early Half, Low Mintage Date