EPC Liberty Seated Half Dimes, Set 1
Private
Updated:
1/26/2026
Views: 5,434
In late 2003, I resumed collecting coins after nearly a quarter century since starting college. My initial urge was toward gold coins, but very quickly began to focus on a quality set of middle and late date large cents. That decision was based mostly on the cost of completing a set, and the fact that I had gotten the copper bug when I was in high school.
When the large cent set was nearing completion, around 2008, I had to decide what to collect next. Another high school interest had been half dimes. By that time I knew that a nice complete set of Liberty Seated Half Dimes (without the unique 1870-S*) would also be achievable, so I started working on it.
It took me a dozen years to complete this standard 70 coin set. Once in a while I take advantage of upgrade opportunities.** But as it neared completion, I again had to decide what to collect next.
I had always thought the passion of many copper collectors to pursue varieties was a little nutty, but I ended up a little nutty myself, trying to acquire decent examples of as many Liberty Seated Half Dime die marriages and notable die states as I can.
One aspect of this that makes it especially enjoyable is that there really is no good guide to these varieties. While there is good information in books specifically about Liberty Seated Half Dime varieties (e.g., Valentine (1931) and Blythe (1992)), in Breen's work, and in articles in the Liberty Seated Collectors Club's Gobrecht Journal, there simply is no consistently well detailed and comprehensive guide to the varieties in this series. At some level, there never can be a "complete" accounting for and identification of all the unique dies used to produce these coins.
That leaves current collectors with the prospect of discovering previously undocumented varieties. I have made several such discoveries, and have been contributing information to another LSCC member who is in the process of creating a better guide to the series.
I have been entering all the coins purchased for my variety collection in the registry. That has led to me having many sets. At present, I have 44 1838 half dimes that, due to the nature of this "competitive" registry, appear in 44 different sets.
Being the NGC Registry, I prioritize NGC coins in higher ranked sets over PCGS coins with the same grade, except that a coin with a CAC sticker trumps one without, regardless of TPG. For coins with the same grade, TPG, and CAC status, the earlier purchases are in the higher ranked sets.
This set contains the best of my coins, according to the criteria above, for each of the 70 slots. Other varieties, and a few duplicates, appear in the other EPC sets.
Being interested in varieties, I have tried to take good high resolution images of each coin. The images are rotated so that the obverses are proper, and so that the reverses indicate the relative orientations of the dies. The raw images have about 3100 pixels across each coin, but the Registry's file size limits led to the 750x750 pixel scaled images I have included.
* Tom Bender, the former owner of the 1870-S, displayed it at Seated Fest II at the March 2019 show in Baltimore. If you look at my registry profile picture, you will see it with a portion of this set, which was also on display at that show. Mr. Bender was kind enough to let me have a complete set for a few minutes...
** This set has 69 mint state certified coins. The 1846 is the lone circulated entry, graded AU 55. So, I've been following the three MS coins, and clearing the larger than normal potential expense with my wife when one comes up. When Gene Gardner's collection was sold, I was the underbidder on his MS62 Gold CAC coin, but did not bid on the MS63 which went to Bender. A few years later, I was blown away when the ex-Garrett MS62 Gold CAC was sold. More recently, when the Gardner-Bender MS63 was sold, I was the underbidder. I guess I'll have to be more aggressive the next time one becomes available...
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EPC Liberty Seated Half Dimes, Set 1
By Electric Peak
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