1829 Half Dollar Error List with Pictures

An 1829 half dollar struck about twenty-five percent off center sold for $3,220 in February 2007. Another off-center example was wrongly labeled 1830 on its holder, showing why the remaining design matters.

Estimated values for the 1829 half dollar errors and reported features below span $75–$5,500. Read on to compare shifted designs, extra edge letters, raised cracks, and a narrow impression near the C in 50 C.

1. 1829 Capped Bust Half Dollar Reported Raised Arc (Estimated Up to $250 Before Error Attribution)

A curved line in front of Liberty is the subject of this report. It runs from the bust toward the top of her nose, separate from three nearby straight scratches.

The owner’s 2024 discussion offered several possible causes without settling on one. Suggestions included marks from a stamping tool, a transferred impression, and metal pushed up beside a scratch.

Calling it a raised arc describes what the owner sees without deciding how it formed. A raised appearance alone does not prove a mint error, because later damage can push metal above a surface.

Estimated Value

Use a provisional whole-coin estimate of $75–$250 for an ordinary worn example with this appearance. No separate error premium is included.

A seller’s $185.25 asking price for a different 1829/7 described as having two rim breaks gives a nearby worn-coin comparison. It is neither a sale nor a match to this arc.

If closer examination establishes a collectible error, its price needs the appropriate comparison. The photograph’s resemblance cannot supply that identification alone.

How to Identify

Separate the curved arc from the three straight scratches first. With a magnifier, shine light from both sides to see whether raised metal sits beside a cut.

Follow the arc across the open area and portrait to locate its real beginning and end. Photographs of both sides may help test a proposed transferred design.

Check the lettering around the edge and the Philadelphia coin’s lack of a mintmark. A scale and calipers can compare the original 13.48 grams and roughly 32.5 millimeters.

The first useful decision is whether the arc stands independently or is metal pushed up beside an existing groove.

 

2. 1829 Capped Bust Half Dollar Seller-Reported Cud Errors (Estimated Up to $450)

Two arrows in a seller’s photographs point to the marks described as cuds on an 1829/7. The coin has no independent certification, and the listing describes it as Fine to Very Fine, meaning worn.

A cud is a raised patch joined to the rim. It forms when a piece breaks from the edge of the steel tool that stamps coins.

Metal fills that missing space during striking. The seller does not give exact positions for the two marks, so each needs examination of its shape and rim connection rather than acceptance based on the arrows alone.

Estimated Value

The seller’s listing showed an asking price of $185.25, reduced from $195. It is an offer, not a completed auction or independent confirmation of both cuds.

Estimated value is $150–$450 for a worn coin with similar genuine rim-connected breaks. Larger, clearer breaks can support the upper end.

The 1829/7 date identification and the rest of the surface still matter. They need assessment on the actual coin alongside the two advertised marks.

How to Identify

Check the date and the two arrowed areas without treating the arrows as proof. A scale and calipers can compare 13.48 grams and 32.5 millimeters, and the edge should carry lettering.

Use a magnifier and low light to trace each raised patch into the rim. Look for missing normal design beneath the extra metal.

An impact can crush a border instead, so examine both sides for damage and any supporting weakness opposite the patch. Such weakness helps but is not required on every genuine example.

Continuous raised metal joining the affected design area to the rim is the immediate observation needed for each claimed cud.

 

3. 1829 Capped Bust Half Dollar Threadlike Strike-Through Error (Estimated Up to $700)

A narrow impression near the C in 50 C. gives this report its starting point. Sheridan Downey’s auction catalog describes it as related to a threadlike or wirelike obstruction.

The coin was described as XF–AU, meaning moderate to light wear, rather than given a grading-service label. Nothing in that description proves that a thread or wire remains stuck in the surface.

Material caught between a stamping tool and the metal disc can leave a recessed trace as the design forms around it. A scratch made later instead cuts through a surface that was already finished.

Estimated Value

Estimated value is $200–$700 for a moderately to lightly worn 1829 with a convincing narrow strike-through. No sale price is assigned to Downey’s example.

An 1821 struck through thread, graded ANACS VF35, sold for $176.25 at Heritage in January 2015. VF35 indicates moderate wear.

That older result supplies a comparison at a lower grade. Stronger remaining detail can support more value, but an ordinary groove cut after minting does not earn the same estimate.

How to Identify

Locate the denomination on the back before examining unrelated marks. Follow the narrow depression near the C with a magnifier and see how its edges meet the raised letter.

Compare the whole coin with Downey’s identified example, keeping its date and surrounding letters visible. The edge should be lettered, with no Philadelphia mintmark on either face.

A scale and calipers can compare 13.48 grams and roughly 32.5 millimeters. Use angled light to look for scrape tracks, sharp cuts, or pushed-up lips around the depression.

The way the narrow impression meets the originally stamped C is the most informative first comparison for this reported strike-through.

 

4. 1829 Capped Bust Half Dollar Reverse Die Cracks (Estimated Up to $1,000)

Raised lines follow two routes on the example cataloged as 1829 Large Letters O-110a. One runs along the tops of TATES OF AMERI, while the other crosses from the leaves through 50 C. toward the arrowheads.

A crack in a steel stamping tool fills with coin metal during striking. The coin then carries a raised ridge where the tool had an opening.

The illustrated example is graded NGC XF45, indicating moderate wear. Even where part of a line is faint, the named letters and other design details help trace its path without confusing it with a scratch.

Estimated Value

An XF example with clear cracks has an estimated $250–$650 range. Across heavier to lighter wear, the broader estimate is $100–$1,000.

An 1826 with cracks on both sides sold for $1,020 including buyer’s premium in August 2025. PCGS graded it AU58, meaning very little wear.

That different-year coin gives an upper-condition comparison. The 1829’s own surfaces and visible crack paths determine how closely it fits, rather than the presence of any line alone.

How to Identify

Compare the upper letters and lower denomination as two separate checkpoints. A line across TATES OF AMERI does not by itself establish the lower route.

The O-110a reference describes both paths. Use a magnifier with light from opposite sides to distinguish raised ridges from cuts or a split in the coin.

Keep the date, large back lettering, and lettered edge visible in photographs. A scale and calipers can compare the normal 13.48 grams and roughly 32.5 millimeters for this Philadelphia issue without a mintmark.

Matching both raised routes where they cross the named design features gives the clearest quick check.

 

5. 1829 Capped Bust Half Dollar Repeated or Misplaced Edge Lettering (Estimated Up to $2,000 for Compound Examples)

Letters around the edge can repeat or lose part of their normal sequence. One reported 1829 has tripled lettering, while a separate off-center coin is missing part of the word HALF.

The edge received its letters before the designs were stamped on the two faces. Repeated or slipping contact during lettering could create extra sequences.

A short missing section does not mean the whole edge was left blank. The off-center coin combines incomplete edge wording with a shifted face strike, while a separate 1829/7 doubling report should not automatically be called tripled lettering.

Estimated Value

Estimated value is $150–$900 for worn coins with clearly repeated or interrupted edge wording. An 1834 doubled-edge example with heavy wear and cleaning sold for $220 in July 2026.

The 1829 with incomplete wording and a five-percent off-center strike sold for $1,880 in September 2016. An estimated $1,500–$2,000 describes that combined appearance.

The higher range buys the complete coin with both features. It does not measure a separate payment for its missing edge letters.

How to Identify

Read around the entire edge and write every letter in order, including gaps and repeats. A continuous set of photographs prevents one section from being counted twice.

For the tripled report, look for three recognizable sets of whole letters. The off-center example instead reads FIFTY CENTS OR LF A * DOLLAR, omitting part of HALF.

Inspect the gaps and letter depths with a magnifier for damage or later cutting. Confirm the Philadelphia faces, and use a scale and calipers to compare 13.48 grams and 32.5 millimeters.

Reconstructing the full wording is the quickest way to separate repeated lettering from a short interruption in the inscription.

 

6. 1829 Capped Bust Half Dollar Reported Double Strike or Loose-Die Restrike (Estimated Up to $3,000)

A row of small tooth-like marks runs over Liberty’s cap on the coin described in Downey’s auction catalog. They resemble the tiny border teeth normally found around the outside of the design.

The catalog calls the coin double struck and also mentions a loose stamping tool. It describes Fine15 condition, meaning substantial wear, and notes its earlier Logan collection ownership.

A shifted second contact can leave pieces of a border inside the portrait area. The description does not establish two complete portraits or the same repeated marks on the back, so the surviving cap tracks are the feature to examine.

Estimated Value

Estimated value is $600–$3,000 for a worn 1829 with convincing remnants of a shifted second impression. No realized price is assigned to Downey’s Fine15 example.

An 1824 with a double strike on the front sold for $2,880 in January 2022. PCGS graded it VF20, with moderate wear.

That provides a related comparison, but the limited cap tracks and possible loose-tool explanation need their own assessment. They should not be treated as equally dramatic without examining the coin.

How to Identify

Compare the cap marks with the normal tiny teeth around the border. Their spacing and shape should fit a border impression made in another position.

The auction catalog identifies the coin and mentions the loose-tool interpretation. Inspect the back for supporting traces without assuming it must show the same repeat.

Photograph the 1829/7 date and lettered edge. A scale and calipers can compare 13.48 grams and roughly 32.5 millimeters.

Use a magnifier and side light to inspect the marks and surrounding surface. A recognizable border-tooth pattern crossing the cap provides the relevant first match, rather than requiring two complete portraits.

 

7. 1829 Capped Bust Half Dollar Off-Center Strike Error (Estimated Up to $5,500)

One 1829 half loses the bottom of its date and the top of STATES OF because it was struck five percent off center. Its design shifts toward 7:30, treating the coin like a clock face.

Heritage corrected the 1830 date mistakenly printed on that coin’s NGC Fine15 holder. A separate example shifts about twenty-five percent toward 10:30, losing the denomination and most of UNITED.

The second coin has an ANACS VF Details label noting scratches, not a problem-free grade. Different missing areas follow from different strike positions, so the two coins must be compared separately.

Estimated Value

The five-percent example sold for $1,880 in September 2016. The twenty-five-percent scratched coin brought $3,220 in February 2007.

Together they support an estimated $1,500–$5,500 for worn 1829 coins with clear displacement. A ten-percent 1827 graded NGC VG8 sold for $2,640 in September 2025.

VG8 means heavy wear. The surviving identity, amount of shift, and surface problems explain the comparisons better than a grade number or percentage alone.

How to Identify

Read the surviving date and back lettering before trusting the holder. The five-percent example’s printed 1830 date is wrong, as the corrected catalog explains.

Then compare both sides and the direction of missing design. The other coin’s absent denomination and most of UNITED belong to its separate twenty-five-percent shift.

With a magnifier, inspect the original blank metal beyond the struck area and the lettered edge for later cuts. A scale and calipers can compare 13.48 grams and about 32.5 millimeters, allowing for distortion.

Surviving design identity combined with matching displacement on both sides resolves this error more directly than the printed label alone.

 

Conclusion

Estimated values span $75–$5,500, from an ordinary worn coin with an unexplained arc to clear off-center examples. Keep the seller-reported rim breaks and unresolved arc separate from the documented striking errors.

Read the whole edge, follow each crack, and compare the surviving design on both faces. The incorrect 1830 holder label shows why those physical details matter, while the combined edge-and-strike example receives one whole-coin price.