1815 Capped Bust Half Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 47,150 made
- Mintage
- 47,150
- Metal
- 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper
- Weight
- 13.48 g
- Diameter
- 32.5 mm (lettered edge); 30 mm (reeded edge)
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 1815 Capped Bust Half Dollar worth?
This is one of the dates collectors hunt for. A genuine 1815 is valuable in any condition, even well worn. That's exactly why fakes and altered coins turn up so often.
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 1815 Capped Bust Half Dollar rare?
- Yes. Only 47,150 were made, 3rd lowest of the 35 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1815 Capped Bust Half Dollar silver?
- Yes. It's 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper and holds 0.3868 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1815 Capped Bust Half Dollar?
- No mint mark. Struck in Philadelphia.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1815 are scarcer?
- None. Within five years either side, no Philadelphia issue had a smaller mintage than the 1815.
- How many 1815 Capped Bust Half Dollar coins were made?
- 47,150.
What to check on your 1815
- 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. Look at the curls near the ear, the clasp at the shoulder and the eagle's neck and wings.
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 1815
Production at Philadelphia fell off a cliff in 1815. Only 47,150 were made, against 1 million the year before. That drop is why the 1815 is the one people look for. After that, Philadelphia didn't make another until 1817.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1815 you find is from Philadelphia. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1839-O (116,000) and the 1807 (750,500).
Only the 1836, Reeded Edge has a lower mintage among Philadelphia's 33 Capped Bust Half Dollars. No Capped Bust Half Dollar of the 1810s had a smaller run.
The 1815/2 and a run of overdates (1815 to 1824)
Only 47,150 halves bear the 1815 date and all of them are overdates over a 2. A fire at the Mint in January 1816 damaged the rolling mill. No halves are dated 1816. The 1815/2 is the key date of the whole Capped Bust half series and is scarce in every grade. Most survivors show heavy wear.
Production resumed in 1817 and passed two million by 1819. The 1817/3 and the very rare 1817/4 head a long list of overdates that includes 1818/7, 1819/8, 1820/19, 1822/1 and 1824/1. The 1817 punctuated date shows a dot-like die flaw between 181 and 7. Many coins of this era show cracked dies or repunched letters, a sign that dies were kept in service as long as possible.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1815
No cents are dated 1815. The War of 1812 cut off supplies of copper planchets from England, so the Mint had nothing to strike until new stock arrived. The quarter dollar returned in 1815 with the Capped Bust design.
How to recognize it
John Reich's Liberty faces left in a cloth cap with a band inscribed LIBERTY, surrounded by stars with the date below. The reverse shows an eagle with a shield on its breast and the value 50 C. (later 50 CENTS and HALF DOL.). Coins to 1836 have a lettered edge; later coins are reeded and slightly smaller. Hundreds of die marriages make this a favorite series for variety specialists.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Capped Bust Half Dollar (1807–1839) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1815 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 47,150 |
| Face value | 50¢ |
| Composition | 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper |
| Weight | 13.48 grams |
| Diameter | 32.5 mm (lettered edge); 30 mm (reeded edge) |
| Edge | Lettered to 1836, then reeded |
| Silver content | 0.3868 troy oz (12.030 g) |
| Designer | John Reich; reeded-edge version by Christian Gobrecht |
Mintage: United States half dollar mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.