1845

The 1845 half dollar arrived at a curious moment for Philadelphia's silver coinage. Production at the parent mint had been trending downward across the early Seated decade, and 1845 represented the steepest drop yet, a fact that becomes more striking when set against the New Orleans branch, which struck more than three times as many halves the same year. Texas was joining the Union, sectional tensions were quietly building, and the Mint's bullion supply was shifting in ways that would shape silver production for the remainder of the 1840s.

At 589,000 pieces, the 1845 Philadelphia mintage sits well below the 1.77 million struck in 1844 and represents a fraction of the 3.84 million produced in 1843. The reason for the sharp pullback has never been satisfactorily documented. Bill Bugert's reference catalogs a single business-strike die marriage, OC-1, on which the dies are normally clashed, the clash marks are most visible in the field beneath Liberty's right arm. Specialists separate the issue further into die states WB-1 through WB-6, with WB-1 classified as a repunched date. Strikes are typically average for the era: stars and head detail can be soft, particularly on later die states. Circulated examples in Fine through Extremely Fine surface regularly at major auctions, but the date is meaningfully tougher in true Mint State than published values suggest. The finest known is a PCGS MS-64 from the Eric P. Newman estate, which crossed the block at $16,450.

For collectors building a date set, the 1845 is a better date that rewards patience without commanding key-date prices. Look for clean fields free of harsh cleaning, and check the area beneath Liberty's right arm for the diagnostic clash marks that confirm a correctly attributed coin. For broader background on the type, including design evolution and branch-mint context, see the Seated Liberty Half Dollar series history.
Updated 2026-03-21