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Half Dimes

1794 Half Dime
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1794 Half Dime

Early Half Dimes are silver five cent US coins also referred to as a half disme (pronounced deem). They were first made in 1792.

This was the year before the first United States Mint actually opened for business. They were official US coins, however.

It is believed that they were struckStriking
This refers to the process by which a coin is minted. It could also refer to the sharpness of design details. For example, a sharp or strong strike will show all of the details struck very sharply, but a weak strike will show details lightly.
in the cellar of John Harper using the new Mint pressesPress
This is the machine used to produce the actual coin. It can be a machine press, screw press or hammer press.
that would soon be in the first official U.S. Mint.

John Harper was a Philadelphia saw maker who had connections to the Mint.

Were These Coins Made From Silverware?

It is rumored that President George Washington was so eager for the United States to have its own coins that these early pattern coins were made from his own silverware.

Why Weren't They Called Nickels?

It may seem strange to you that they are called half dimes instead of nickels, but the term nickel is a slang term for coins that are made of nickel.

The first five cent nickel coin was made in 1866. It was the Shield Nickel. However, other coins had been called nickels or Nicks before this, but they were not five cent coins. They were just given that slang name because the metal they were made of contained nickel. These are the Flying Eagle Cent, the Indian Head Cent, and the Three Cent Nickel.

The US Mint Struck Silver Half Dimes From 1794 Through 1873.

All design types of the Early Half Dime were minted at the Philadelphia Mint as it was the only United States Mint at the time. Therefore, these coins have no mintmark.

The Seated Liberty half dime was minted at New Orleans and San Francisco as well as Philadelphia, beginning in 1838 for New Orleans and 1863 for San Francisco.

There are several different design types of early half dimes. You will find them described below:


Early Half Dime Flowing Hair Pattern - 1792

There is much discussion among collectors as to whether these coins should be considered patternPattern
This term when used in coin collecting describes a prototype of a proposed coin design.
coins or regular circulation issue. About 1500 were made and many of them did make it into circulation.

All of these 1792 coins are considered rare and valuable as only 200-250 are known to still exist today. They are one of the United States most historical coins.

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1792 Flowing Hair
Half Disme
1792 Half Disme
Type Half Disme Flowing Hair Pattern
Designer Robert Birch and Joseph Wright
Years Minted 1792 only
Weight 1.35 grams
Composition .8924 silver, .1076 copper
Diameter approx. 17.5 mm
Edge vertical rather than diagonally reededReeded Edge
The edge of a coin with grooved lines around the perimeter. It is also known as a milled edge.
Mintage 1500

The 1792 early half dime pattern issue is also known as the Martha Washington half disme. Rumor has it that Martha Washington may have been the model for this coin.


Early Half Dime Flowing Hair Design - 1794-1795

The Flowing Hair half dime holds an important place in United States history as being the first official silver coin produced at the Philadelphia Mint.

All early half dimes with the flowing hair design are considered to be rare.

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1794-1795 Flowing Hair
Half Dime
1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime
Type Flowing Hair Half Dime
Designer Robert Scot
Years Minted 1794-1795
Weight 1.35 grams
Composition .8924 silver, .1076 copper
Diameter approx. 16.5 mm
Edge reededReeded Edge
The edge of a coin with grooved lines around the perimeter. It is also known as a milled edge.
Mintage 1794 - 7,756 (actually struck in March of 1795)
1795 - 78,660

The Flowing Hair design was not widely accepted. This may be one reason for its short life span. The eagle was criticized as being too 'scrawny' and Lady Liberty was considered to be less than ladylike with her 'fright wig'.


Draped Bust Half Dime (Small Eagle Reverse) - 1796-1797

The 1796 half dime has 15 stars surrounding Lady Liberty on the obverse (front) of the coin - eight stars on the left and seven on the right. These stars represented each of the fifteen states of the nation, including the new states of Vermont and Kentucky.

This fifteen-star variety continued into part of 1797. Later that year a sixteenth star was added to represent Tennessee after it was admitted to the Union.

Realizing that they could not continue to add stars for each new state added to the union, the number of stars were reduced to thirteen for the last design variety of the year. These stars (seven on the right and six on the left) represent the original thirteen states.

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1796-1797 Draped Bust
Half Dime
1796 Draped Bust Half Dime
Type Draped Bust (Small Eagle Reverse)
Designer Using a sketch by artist Gilbert Stuart, Robert Scot and John Eckstein engraved the dies for this coin.
Years Minted 1796-1797
Weight 1.35 grams
Composition .8924 silver, .1076 copper
Diameter approx. 16.5 mm
Edge reededReeded Edge
The edge of a coin with grooved lines around the perimeter. It is also known as a milled edge.
Mintage 1796 - 10,230
1797 - 44,527
1798 - none
1799 - none

Because of low mintage numbers, these coins are rare and hard to find. They are the most scarce design of the half dime, other than the 1792 Flowing Hair.

The low mintage numbers was due to having to close the mint during the summer and fall some years due to outbreaks of yellow fever, especially bad during the years 1797-1804. Several employees of the Philadelphia Mint were lost to yellow fever including Joseph Whitehead, assayer, and Joseph Wright, engraver in 1793. Mint Treasurer, Dr. Nicholas Way was also lost to the disease in 1797.


Draped Bust Half Dime (Heraldic Eagle Reverse) - 1800-1805

Beginning in 1800, the eagle on the reverse side of the half dime was revised to the Heraldic Eagle. It was patterned after the Great Seat of the United States and was a huge improvement over the 'scrawny' eagle depicted in earlier designs.

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1800-1805 Draped Bust (Heraldic Eagle Reverse)
Half Dime
1800 Draped Bust Half Dime
Type Draped Bust (Heraldic Eagle Reverse)
Designer Using a sketch by artist Gilbert Stuart, Robert Scot and John Eckstein engraved the dies for this coin.
Years Minted 1800-1805
Weight 1.35 grams
Composition .8924 silver, .1076 copper
Diameter approx. 16.5 mm
Edge reededReeded Edge
The edge of a coin with grooved lines around the perimeter. It is also known as a milled edge.
Mintage 1800 - 24,000
1800 - LIBEKTY 16,000
1801 - 27,760
1802 - 3,060
1803 - 37,850
1804 - none
1805 - 15,600

Except for the 1802, these are usually weakly struck coins.

The 1802 coin is a key dateKey Date
This is a slang term used to indicate the rarest date and mint mark of a particular coin series.
with only 3,060 minted. Only a few dozen are known to exist today.

There is an interesting coin in this variety to take note of. It was issued in 1800 and has a defective 'R' in LIBERTY. 16,000 1800 LIBERKY half dimes were made.

No half dimes were made between 1805 and 1829.


Capped Bust Half Dime - 1829-1837

Production of the half dime was resumed in 1829 after more than twenty years. The reason for the large gap in production is not known, but it could possibly be that there was a demand for a coin that was larger than a cent but smaller than a dime.

At the time, two cent, three cent and nickel coins had not yet been made. These would not appear until the 1850s and 60s.

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1829-1837 Capped Bust
Half Dime
1829 Capped Bust Half Dime
Type Capped Bust
Designer Willaim Kneass adapting the design of John Reich
Years Minted 1829-1837
Weight 1.35 grams
Composition .8924 silver, .1076 copper
changed to .900 fine in 1837
Diameter approx. 15.5 mm
Edge reeded
Mintage 1829 - 1,230,000
1830 - 1,240,000
1831 - 1,242,700
1832 - 965,000
1833 - 1,370,000
1834 - 1,480,000
1835 - 1,480,000
1836 - 1,900,000
1837 - 871,000

These were the first half dimes to note the denomination on the coin. It was denoted as 5 C. on the reverse of the coin. This brought about the coin being referred to as a half dime or five cent coin instead of the half disme.

These coins would be a good choice to collect as a type setType
The basic distinguishing design of a coin.
Type Set
One of each coin of a particular design, series or period.
. They are a relatively small seriesSeries
Set of years coin was minted with a specific design and denomination.
and since there are no extremely rare dates, a set can be put together without spending a great deal of money.


Seated Liberty Half Dime - 1837-1873

This is another series that would be good for the beginner or budget minded person. There is one exception however. That is the 1870S. Only one of these coins is known to exist.

There are 4 varietiesVariety
A variation in the design of a particular coin. Some dates have several die varieties.
of the Seated Liberty Half Dime:

  1. No Stars on the Obverse (front)
  2. Stars on the Obverse
  3. Arrows at date
  4. LegendLegend
    Principle inscription on a coin.
    on Obverse

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1837-1873 Liberty Seated Half Dime
1837 Liberty Seated Half Dime
Type Liberty Seated Variety 1 - No Stars on Obverse
Designer Christian Gobrecht
Years Minted 1837-1838
Weight 1.34 grams
Composition .900 silver, .100 copper
Diameter approx. 15.5 mm
Edge reeded
Mints Philadelphia - no mint mark
New Orleans - O
Mintage 1837 - 1,405,000
1838O - 70,000
1839 - 1,242,700
1840 - 965,000
1841 - 1,370,000
1842 - 1,480,000
1843 - 1,480,000
1844 - 1,900,000
1845 - 871,000
Type Liberty Seated Variety 2 - Stars on Obverse
Designer Christian Gobrecht
Years Minted 1838-1853
Weight 1.34 grams
Composition .900 silver, .100 copper
Diameter approx. 15.5 mm
Edge reeded
Mints Philadelphia - no mint mark
New Orleans - O
Mintage
Philadelphia
1838 - 2,225,000 -
               No Drapery
1839 - 1,069, -
               No Drapery
1840 - 1,034,000 -
               No Drapery
1840 - 310,085 -
               Drapery
1841 - 1,150,000
1842 - 815,000
1843 - 1,165,000
1844 - 430,000
1845 - 1,564,000
1846 - 27,000
1847 - 1,274,000
1848 - 668,000
1849 - 1,309,000
1850 - 955,000
1851 - 781,000
1852 - 1,000,500
1853 - 135,000 -
               No Arrows
New Orleans-O
1839O - 1,034,039 -
               No Drapery
1840O - 695,000 -
               No Drapery
1840O - 240,000 -
               Drapery
1841O - 815,000
1842O - 350,000
1844O - 220,000
1848O - 600,000
1849O - 140,000
1850O - 690,000
1851O - 860,000
1852O - 260,000
1853O - 160,000 -
               No Arrows






Type Liberty Seated Variety 3 - Arrows at Date
Designer Christian Gobrecht
Years Minted 1853-1855
Weight 1.24 grams
Composition .900 silver, .100 copper
Diameter approx. 15.5 mm
Edge reeded
Mints Philadelphia - no mint mark
New Orleans - O
Mintage
Philadelphia
1853 - 13,210,020
1854 - 5,740,000
1855 - 1,750,000
New Orleans-O
1853O - 2,200,000
1854O - 1,560,000
1855O - 600,000
Type Liberty Seated Variety 2 Resumed
Designer Christian Gobrecht
Years Minted 1856-1859
Weight 1.24 grams
Composition .900 silver, .100 copper
Diameter approx. 15.5 mm
Edge reeded
Mints Philadelphia - no mint mark
New Orleans - O
Mintage
Philadelphia
1856 - 4,880,000
1857 - 7,280,000
1858 - 3,500,000
1859 - 340,000
New Orleans-O
1856O - 1,100,000
1857O - 1,380,000
1858O - 1,660,000
1859O - 560,000
Type Liberty Seated Variety 4 - Legend on Obverse
Designer Christian Gobrecht
Years Minted 1860-1873
Weight 1.24 grams
Composition .900 silver, .100 copper
Diameter approx. 15.5 mm
Edge reeded
Mints Philadelphia - no mint mark
New Orleans - O
San Francisco - S
Mintage
Philadelphia
1860 - 798,000
1861 - 3,360,000
1862 - 1,492,000
1863 - 18,000
1864 - 48,000
1865 - 13,000
1866 - 10,000
1867 - 8,000
1868 - 88,600
1869 - 208,000
1870 - 535,000
1871 - 1,873,000
1872 - 2,947,000
1873 - 712,000
New Orleans-O
1860O - 1,060,000













San Francisco-S
1863S - 100,000
1864S - 90,000
1865S - 120,000
1866S - 120,000
1867S - 120,000
1868S - 280,000
1869S - 230,000
1870S - 1
1871S - 161,000
1872S - 837,000
1873S - 324,000



If you are thinking of purchasing half dimes for your collection, be aware that this series of coins has known counterfeits. I recommend that you purchase only certified coinsCertified Coin
Coin that has been graded and authenticated by one of the third party grading services.
.




For some great deals on U.S. Bust Half Dimes and other half dimes, as well as Coin Supplies visit my friends at Jake's Marketplace, Inc. They have a very comprehensive selection to choose from and give great discounts!



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