1819 Capped Bust Half Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 2,208,000 made
- Mintage
- 2,208,000
- 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 1819 Capped Bust Half Dollar worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.3868 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1819 Capped Bust Half Dollar rare?
- Not by date: 2.2 million were struck. A sharp uncirculated coin or a known variety is what makes one special.
- Is the 1819 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 1819 Capped Bust Half Dollar?
- No mint mark. Struck in Philadelphia.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1819 are scarcer?
- The 1815 at 47,150, the 1820 at 751,122, the 1814 at 1,039,075, plus 5 more. So the 1819 is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1819 Capped Bust Half Dollar coins were made?
- 2,208,000.
What to check on your 1819
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- 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.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value.
The story of the 1819
Philadelphia made 2,208,000 in 1819, up from 2 million in 1818. In 1820 the figure was 751,122.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1819 you find is from Philadelphia.
Across Philadelphia's 33 Capped Bust Half Dollar issues, the hardest to find is the 1836, Reeded Edge with 1,200 made. The 1819 is one of the easier ones. No Capped Bust Half Dollar of the 1810s had a bigger 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.
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 | 1819 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 2,208,000 |
| 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.