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Half cent

United States
Value	0.5 cents or 0.005US dollars
Diameter	23.5 mm
Thickness	2 mm
Edge	lettered (1793, 1797) plain (1794–1857) gripped (1797)
Composition	100%copper
Years of minting	1793–1857
Obverse
Design	Lady Liberty with braided hair
Designer	Christian Gobrecht
Design date	1840
Reverse
Design	Denomination surrounded by a wreath
Design date	1840
Design discontinued	1857

Thehalf cent was the smallest denomination ofUnited States coin ever minted. It was first minted in 1793 and last minted in 1857. It was minted with five different designs.

First authorized by theCoinage Act of 1792 on April 2, 1792,^[1] the coin was produced in the United States from 1793 to 1857. The half-cent piece was made of 100%copper and half of a cent, or one two-hundredth of a dollar (fivemilles). It was slightly smaller than a modernU.S. quarter with diameters 22 mm (1793),^[1] 23.5 mm (1794–1836),^[2] and 23 mm (1840–1857).^[3] They were all produced at the Philadelphia Mint.

TheCoinage Act of February 21, 1857 discontinued the half-cent and the similarlarge cent, and authorized thesmall cent (Flying Eagle cent).^[4]

Half cent types

Liberty Cap (facing left)

Liberty Cap (facing right)

Draped Bust

Classic Head

Braided Hair

There are several different types of half cents:

• Liberty Cap, Facing left (designed and engraved byHenry Voigt) – issued 1793
• Liberty Cap, Facing right (large head designed byRobert Scot, small head designed by Scot-John Gardner, engraved by Robert Scot) – issued 1794 to 1797
• Draped Bust (obverse designed byGilbert Stuart and Robert Scot, reverse designed by Scot-John Gardner, engraved by Robert Scot) – issued 1800 to 1808
• Classic Head (designed and engraved by Robert Scot or John Reich) – issued 1809 to 1836
• Braided Hair (designed byChristian Gobrecht) – issued 1840 to 1857

There are no mint marks on any of the coins (all minted at thePhiladelphia Mint) and the edges are plain on most half cents. On the 1793, 1794, and some 1795 coins and a variety of the 1797 coin, it was letteredTWO HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR and another 1797 variety had a gripped, or milled, edge.

Liberty Cap, facing left

• 1793 – 35,334

Liberty Cap, facing right

• 1794 – 81,600
• 1795 – 139,690
• 1796 – 1,390
• 1797 – 127,840

Draped Bust

• 1800 – 202,908
• 1802 – 20,266
• 1803 – 92,000
• 1804 – 1,055,312
• 1805 – 814,464
• 1806 – 356,000
• 1807 – 476,000
• 1808 – 400,000

Classic Head (Shown at top right)

• 1809 – 1,154,572
• 1810 – 215,000
• 1811 – 63,140
• 1825 – 63,000
• 1826 – 234,000
• 1828 – 606,000
• 1829 – 487,000
• 1831 – 2,200
• 1832 – 51,000
• 1833 – 103,000
• 1834 – 141,000
• 1835 – 398,000
• 1836 –proof only, restrikes were made
• 1837 –No half cents were struck by the United States government; however, due to the need for small change, half-cent tokens were produced by private businessmen.

Braided Hair

• 1840 through 1849 were proof-only issues. There were restrikes made.
• 1849 – 39,864
• 1850 – 39,812
• 1851 – 147,672
• 1852 – proof only. Restrikes were made.
• 1853 – 129,694
• 1854 – 55,358
• 1855 – 56,500
• 1856 – 40,430
• 1857 – 35,180

• Penny (United States coin), the second smallest denomination of United States coin minted

• Yeoman, R.S. (2014).Bressett, Kenneth (ed.).A Guide Book of United States Coins 2015 (68th ed.).Atlanta, Georgia: Whitman Publishing.ISBN 978-079484215-4.OCLC 875521690.OL 28306197M.
• The Half Cent Die State Book 1793–1857 by Ronald P. Manley, Ph.D., 1998.
• American Half Cents – The "Little Half Sisters" (Second Edition) by Roger S. Cohen Jr., 1982.
• Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of United States Half Cents 1793–1857 byWalter Breen, 1983.
• The Half Cent, 1793–1857 The Story of American's Greatest Little Coin by William R. Eckberg, 2019
• The Half Cent Handbook – Draped Bust Varieties 1800–1808 by Ed Fuhrman, 2020.
• The Half Cent Handbook – Classic Head & Braided Hair Varieties by Ed Fuhrman, 2021.
• The Half Cent Handbook – Liberty Cap Varieties 1793–1797 by Ed Fuhrman, 2022.
• The Half Cent Handbook – Errors and Oddities by Ed Fuhrman, 2022.
• The Half Cent Handbook – Ultimate Grading Guide by Ed Fuhrman, 2023.
• The Half Cent Handbook – Ultimate Attribution Guide by Ed Fuhrman, 2023.

• Half Cent information by year and type Histories, photos, mintages, mints, metal contents, edge designs, designers, and more
• Half cent coin pictures, Coin Page Database
• This half cent (numismatics.org:1858.1.1) was the first coin donated to the American Numismatic Society
• Half Cent, Coin Type from United States Photos, mintage, varieties

• Half-cent coins of the United States
• Goddess of Liberty on coins
• 1793 introductions

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from January 2025
• Articles lacking in-text citations from January 2025
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