1796 10C JR-1 VG8 Certification #56042362, PCGS #38742

Ron Guth

The 1796 JR-1 Dime is a scarcer variety but there are quite a few Mint State exampels known for it's being such an early American coin.  We know of at least a dozen Mint State examples and there are probably a few more. 

This variety starts out with perfect dies, then develops an irregular "blob" (more properly called a cud) by the first star on the lower left obverse.  Around the time that the "blob" first appeared, the dies clashed heavily, impressing details of the one onto the other.  This resulted in what have been mistakenly referred to as die cracks, though there is some die cracking involved.  For instance, the arc-like "crack" that appears in the field before Liberty's face is actually the clashed outline of the eagle's wing.  On the reverse, the "crack" that runs from below the final T in STATES through the E and the S is the clashed outline of the bottom of Liberty's bust.  On early states of the clased dies, one can even see ghosts of the date within the letters of STATES.  In later die states, the clashing fades and the blob expands.