Bust (Original) Half Disme

Nobody knows for certain who designed the 1792 half disme, and the question has generated more speculation per coin than almost any other issue in American numismatics. Robert Scot is the conventional attribution, as he was already working for the Mint in some capacity by mid-1792, but the dies may have been cut by an outside engraver or by one of several people involved in the Mint's shaky early operations. The obverse portrait of Liberty facing left, with flowing hair and a simple cap, has been the subject of persistent legend. The old story, repeated for generations, holds that Martha Washington posed for the portrait, and that George Washington himself supplied silver from his household flatware to strike the coins. Neither claim has ever been confirmed. Breen was skeptical of the Martha Washington attribution but could not entirely rule it out, and Bowers has discussed the tradition at length without endorsing it. The silver-from-Washington's-pocket story traces back to statements made decades after the fact and has the feel of patriotic embellishment rather than documented history. What is clear is that someone in Washington's circle, probably Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, took a direct interest in getting these coins produced as quickly as possible.