1833 Capped Bust Dime
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 485,000 made
- Mintage
- 485,000
- Metal
- 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper
- Weight
- 2.7 g
- Diameter
- 18.8 mm (to 1827); 18.5 mm (from 1828)
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1833 Capped Bust Dime worth?
Collectors pay a real premium for this date, worn or not, because far fewer were made than usual. Uncirculated pieces go much higher.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1833 Capped Bust Dime rare?
- Yes. Only 485,000 were made, 10th lowest of the 20 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1833 Capped Bust Dime silver?
- Yes. It's 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper and holds 0.0775 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1833 Capped Bust Dime?
- No mint mark. Every Capped Bust dime was struck in Philadelphia.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1833 are scarcer?
- The 1828 at 125,000, the 1837 at 359,500. So the 1833 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1833 Capped Bust Dime coins were made?
- 485,000.
What to check on your 1833
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. Check the curls around Liberty's face and the band of her cap, then the eagle's wing feathers and the claws.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more. Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1833
At 485,000, the 1833 run at Philadelphia was close to the 1832 figure. The next year it made 635,000 (1834).
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1833 you find is from Philadelphia. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1830 (510,000) and the 1832 (522,500).
Philadelphia struck the Capped Bust Dime in 20 issues between 1809 and 1837. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1809 (51,065). Among the 1830s issues, only the 1837 had a smaller run.
Steady output and the end of the type (1832 to 1837)
The reduced size dime settled into a steady rhythm. Philadelphia struck 522,500 in 1832, 485,000 in 1833 and 635,000 in 1834. The 1833 includes a Last 3 High variety, where the final digit sits higher than the others. The 1834 comes with Small 4 and Large 4. Production then reached its highest point, with 1,410,000 in 1835 and 1,190,000 in 1836.
In 1837 the Mint struck 359,500 Capped Bust dimes before Christian Gobrecht's Seated Liberty design took over the same year. The Act of January 18, 1837 changed the standard for silver coins to 90 percent silver and a slightly lower weight, the standard the new Seated dimes followed.
These are the most available Capped Bust dimes, so they are often used for a type set. Most are found worn but with clear dates. Check for LIBERTY on the cap band, which wears away in lower grades. Then look at the eagle's feathers on the reverse. Watch for cleaning, scratches and holes, which are common on early silver. Varieties such as the 1834 Large 4 can be attributed with a good reference. Proofs were struck in very small numbers for some of these dates. They are great rarities. All were struck at Philadelphia, so none of these dimes carries a mint mark. The 1835 total is the highest of any Capped Bust dime.
How to recognize it
Liberty faces left wearing a soft cloth cap, often called a mob cap, with a band across it reading LIBERTY. Curls fall from under the cap down her neck and a clasp holds drapery at her shoulder. Thirteen stars surround her, seven on the left and six on the right, with the date below. The reverse shows an eagle with a shield on its breast and partly raised wings. It holds an olive branch and three arrows, with E PLURIBUS UNUM on a scroll above its head. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA runs around the top and the value 10 C. sits below. Dimes of 1809 to 1827 and some of 1828 have long denticles and wide, uneven rims. Later coins are smaller, about 18.5 millimeters, with a raised rim and a ring of small beads.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Capped Bust Dime (1809–1837) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1833 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 485,000 |
| Face value | 10¢ |
| Composition | 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper |
| Weight | 2.7 grams |
| Diameter | 18.8 mm (to 1827); 18.5 mm (from 1828) |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0775 troy oz (2.409 g) |
| Designer | John Reich |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.