The 1796 “6 Over 5” Draped Bust Half Dime (Buy on eBay) is the only overdate of the series, which was interestingly created during the first year of issue. The mintage for all 1796 half dimes is 10,230 coins, with the overdate accounting for a smaller portion of the mintage. Approximately 40 examples of the overdate survive across all grades.
Creation of the unusual overdate could have been the result of two possibilities. It is possible that dies for the series had been created in 1795, but were not used until the following year when they were overdated to 1796. Another possibility could have been the use of a faulty punch by a die maker, a situation which occurred on various occasions in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
It has been estimated that approximately 30 of the 1796/5 Draped Bust Half Dimes remain in existence across all grades. Luckily enough for the advanced collector, some extremely high-quality pieces have survived, which were perhaps saved as presentation pieces of the new design.
One of the finest known pieces graded PCGS MS66 sold for $172,500 at an auction held in January 2007. When the same piece was offered for auction the following year in January 2008, it brought an amazing $345,000.
