Braided Hair Half Cents
By 1840 the Philadelphia Mint still held substantial stocks of Classic Head half cents struck in the 1830s and had no pressing reason to produce more coins for commerce. The denomination had not…
Denomination
Half Cents
4 articles
Draped Bust Half Cents
No half cents were struck in 1798, and the last Liberty Cap pieces, a few thousand from 1797-dated dies, were struck in 1799; the denomination then lapsed until 1800. No formal decision ended it. The…
Liberty Cap Half Cents
The half cent was authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792 and entered production in July 1793, by which point the Mint had already been striking Chain cents and Wreath cents for several months. The…
Classic Head Half Cents
John Reich paid for his passage from Germany to the United States through a period of indentured service, which was one way a skilled tradesman without capital made the crossing in the early…