Capped Bust Half Dimes
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A brief Primer on Re-Marriages

200 years ago coin dies were expensive and hard to make.  Back then when a die became damaged it would be pulled, repaired and placed back in service.  Remember too that at times obverse dies with dates may have been used after the date on the coin.  No sense throwing away a perfectly good obverse die just because it has the wrong date on it!

Using reverse E as an example we'll show how this worked.
Reverse E was first used in 1829 paired with the obverse 4 die which created the 1829 LM-6.1.  At some point the obverse 4 die was pulled and replaced with an obverse 5 die (creating the LM-7 variety) and mintage continued.  At some point the obverse 5 die was pulled and replaced by the obverse 4 die used earlier creating the LM-6.2.  By this point the E reverse die was showing some degradation with the first diagonal of the N filling with a die chip.  Also seen is a small cud above M and a die crack forms from the rim through the top of E 3.  For the purposes here, discussions on remarriages are  brief.  For more in depth discussion on remarriages please see the Logan - McCloskey book, "Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837".
Rarest by R Factor  
R FactorDateVariety
81830LM-1.1
81835LM-12
71829LM-6.1
71832LM-9.2
71833LM-3.5
71833LM-5
61829LM-8
61829LM-11
61829LM-12
61830LM-5
61830LM-10
61830LM-11
61832LM-9.1
61832LM-10.2
61833LM-2
61833LM-6
51829LM-6.2
51829LM-6.3
51830LM-9.2
51832LM-8.2
51832LM-8.3
51832LM-10.3
51832LM-11.1
51833LM-4.3
51837LM-3
Rarest by date  
DateVarietyR Factor
1829LM-6.17
1829LM-6.25
1829LM-6.35
1829LM-86
1829LM-116
1829LM-126
1830LM-1.18
1830LM-56
1830LM-9.25
1830LM-106
1830LM-116
1832LM-8.25
1832LM-8.35
1832LM-9.16
1832LM-9.27
1832LM-10.26
1832LM-10.35
1832LM-11.15
1833LM-26
1833LM-3.57
1833LM-4.35
1833LM-57
1833LM-66
1835LM-128
1837LM-35
Listed to the left are the rarest 25 die marriages both by date and by R factor.

Rarity Rating
R-4 = 76 to 200 Pieces Known
R-5 = 31 to 75 Pieces Known
R-6 = 13 to 30 Pieces Known
R-7 = 4 to 12 Pieces Known
R-8 = 1 to 3 Pieces Known



The "Holy Grail" in the series is the 1835 LM-12 of which just 3 to 4 pieces exist followed closely by the 1830 LM-1.1 with 3 known pieces and the 1833 LM-5 with only 5 known examples.

1829 LM-6.1 R-7, LM-6.2 R-5, LM-6.3 R-5

The 1829 LM-6 varieties combines obverse 4 with reverse E
Identifing the 1829 LM-6 Varieties6.16.26.3
Strong devices, both berries have stemsyesyesyes
First diagonal of N fillsNoyesyes
Small cud starts to form above M into dentilsNoyesyes
Top loop of S-2 fills. Die crack forms from   
left wing tip to rimNoNoyes
Large die chip forms in second angle of N and a   
die crack forms from rim to top of E-3 & across to RNoNoyes
Picture
Picture

1829 LM-8 R-6

The 1829 LM-8 R-6 combines obverse 2 with reverse E
Picture
Picture

1829 LM-11 R-6

The 1829 R-6 LM-8 combines obverse 2 with reverse F
Picture
Picture

1829 LM-12 R-6

The 1829 R-6 LM-12 combines Obverse 5 with Reverse F
Picture
Picture

1830 LM-1.1 R-8

The 1830 LM-1.1 R-8 combines obverse 1 with reverse G
Identifying the 1830 LM-1 VarietiesLM-1LM-2
Die crack forms from tip of right wing to  
arrow shaftsNoYes
Die crack forms from the base of A-2 to FNoYes
Cuds form at top of A-2 and through tops  
of ERINoYes
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

1830 LM-5 R-6

The 1830 LM-5 R-5 combines obverse 1 with reverse J
Picture
Picture

1830 LM-9.2 R-5

The 1830 LM-9.2 R-5 combines obverse 5 with reverse L.
Differentiations between the LM-9.1 and LM-9.2
9.19.2
Top loop of S-1 & S-2 FilledNoYes
Top right of T-1 filledNoYes
M fills between right upright and DiagonalNoyes
Die crack appears at tops of UNITNoYes
Die crack appears from Scroll end to top ofNoYes
right wing over to E-3  
Die crack begins to form from left wing tipNoYes
to olive branches then to rim 
Picture
Picture

1830 LM-10 R-6

The 1830 LM-10 R-6 combines obverse 5 with reverse F
Picture
Picture

1830 LM-11 R-6

The 1830 R-6 LM-11 combines obverse 4 with reverse M
Picture
Picture

1832 LM-8.2 & LM-8.3 R-5

Identifing the 1832 LM-8 Varieties8.18.28.38.48.5
1st use of T reverse, strong rim and dentilsYesNoNoNoNo
5th use of T Die swelling hides BU in PLURIBUSNoYesNoNoNo
Top loop of S-2 starts to fillNoYes   
Top loop of S-2 filledNoNoYesYesYes
Die crack appears from E-1 through scroll,     
through eagle's head to scroll below NNoYesYesYesYes
Top loop of S-1 filledNoNoYesYesYes
Die chip forms between right upright and      
diagonal of NNoNoYesYesYes
Die cracks appear at base of UNIT ES MERICNoNoNoYesYes
More die cracks appear from rim to M, F to rim     
and from right wingtip passing through      
arrows to rimNoNoNoYesYes
Die crack at bottom of IT enlarges and joins ITNoNoNoNoYes
N fills between right upright and diagonalNoNoNoNoYes
Die chip forms in DNoNoNoNoYes
The 1832 LM-8.2 & 8.3 R-5  combines obverse 4 with reverse T
Picture
Picture

1832 LM-9.1 R-6 & LM-9.2 R-7

Identifing the 1832 LM-9 Varieties9.19.2
Top Loop of S-2 FilledNoYes
The 1832 LM-9.1 R-6 and LM-9.2 R-7  combines obverse 2 with reverse T
Picture
Picture

1832 LM-10.2 R-6 & LM-10.3 R-5

Identifing the 1832 LM-10 Varieties10.110.210.310.4
Die chip between right upright and diagonal of NNoYesYesYes
Die crack from left wingtip to dentilsNoNoYesYes
Die crack from from top of A-2 to M in scrollNoNoYesYes
Monster cud developes over TES OF ANoNoNoYes
The 1832 LM-10.2 R-6 and LM-10.3 R-5  combines obverse 4 with reverse U
Picture
Picture

1832 LM-11.1 R-5

Identifing the 1832 LM-11 Varieties11.111.2
Die crack from left wingtip to dentilsNoYes
The 1832 LM-11 R-5  combines obverse 2 with reverse U
Picture
Picture
Picture

1833 LM-2 R-6

The 1833 LM-2 combines obverse 1 with reverse T
Picture

1833 LM-3.5 R-7

The 1833 LM-2 combines obverse 2 with reverse T
Identifing the 1833 LM-3 Varieties3.13.23.33.43.5
Upper loop of S-2 filledNoYesYesYesYes
Die chip begins to form between upright and      
center bar of E-1NoNoYesYesYes
Die cracks form between right wing tip through     
arrows to rim and from rim to top of A-3NoNoNoYesYes
Large cud covers NIT and portion of ENoNoNoNoYes
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

1833 LM-4.3 R-5

The 1833 LM-4.3 combines obverse 2 with reverse U
Identifing the 1833 LM-4 Varieties4.14.24.3
Die chip forms between diagonal and right    
upright of NYesYesYes
die crack forms from left wing tip to dentilsNoYesYes
Cud forms top of scroll to F ANoNoYes
Picture
Picture
Picture

1833 LM-5 R-7

The 1833 LM-5 combines obverse 2 with reverse P
Picture
Picture

1833 LM-6 R-6

The 1833 LM-1 combines obverse 1 with reverse W
Picture
Picture

1835 LM-12 R-8

The 1835 LM-12 combines obverse 4 with reverse JJ
Picture
Picture

1837 LM-3 R-5

The 1837 LM-3 combines obverse 3 with reverse LL
Picture
Picture