The 1802 Draped Bust Half Dime (Buy on eBay) is the rarest issue of the series. From a reported mintage of 3,060 pieces, it is estimated that only 40-50 examples survive in all grades. Of the surviving population, all coins coins occur in circulated grades, with not a single example even rumored to exist in mint state.
Until the later discovery of the 1870-S Half Dime, this issue was considered to be the rarest coin across the entire denomination.
Most examples of the 1802 Half Dime are graded Very Good or lower, with many cleaned, bent, or otherwise damaged. The finest examples, graded About Uncirculated, are very seldom available and always generate a large amount of interest when sold.
An example graded NGC AU50 realized a price of $212,750 at auction. On the other end of the spectrum, some examples that have been damaged, plugged, or bent have sold for $10,000 or more.
