The Braided Hair half cent which was designed by Christian Gobrecht, was identical to the Braided Hair large cent of 1840 – 1857. In terms of mintage scarcity, the Braided Hair half cent actually rivals the Liberty Cap half cent. During its mintage period from 1849 through 1857, there are two years (1851 and 1853) where mintages were above 56,000.
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After previous designs of Liberty Cap and Draped Bust for half cents, the Classic Head Half Cent was issued for a longer period of time. Within the production years from 1809 to 1836, there were several gaps in between. The obverse design of the coin depicts a hair band with the inscription “Liberty” and a rendition of Liberty with rolling curls of hair whilst the reverse features the precious laurel […]
After Liberty Cap design was no longer used on half cents, a new design namely Draped Bust Half Cent was introduced. The coins were first minted in 1800 through 1808. However, Draped Bust Half cents were not produced in 1801.
The lowest denomination in circulation ever struck by the United States government is the half cent and Liberty Cap Half Cent type was introduced in 1793. The Liberty Cap Half Cent series ended in 1797, even though coins bearing this date would be struck as 1800 when the next design was introduced.
Through the Mint Act of April 2, 1792, the United States Mint was established and all first federal denominations were authorized. The half cent was one of the first denominations to be manufactured by the U.S Mints for circulation. Larger gold and silver denominations were not readily made at the time, since security bonds are needed for their production. The only exception was the half dime, which was minted in […]