Draped Bust Half Dollars

Robert Scot designed the Draped Bust half dollar, applying the same Stuart-derived portrait to the denomination that had been used across the rest of the silver coinage. By 1796, when the first Draped Bust half dollars appeared, Scot had been cutting versions of this obverse for over a year, and the design was well established. Liberty faced right with loosely gathered hair and a drape across the bust, a portrait that combined classical formality with late-eighteenth-century fashion. The reverse came in two types, following the same progression as every other Draped Bust denomination. The Small Eagle reverse appeared in 1796 and 1797 only, and the Heraldic Eagle took over beginning in 1801.