Half Cent 1793 - 1857

The half cent was produced by the U.S. Mint from 1793 to 1857. The coins featured the head of a nameless "Miss Liberty" and was struck intermittently between 1793 and 1857.  There were four major coin types: Liberty Cap, Draped Bust, Capped Bust and Braided Hair. 

At the time it was first minted, many Americans made about a dollar a day, and might have been able to purchase a pound of potatoes for 1.5 cents and wages were $1 per 10-hour day. But as prices went up, the half-cent was quickly proven to be useless. It was retired, and most of the coins were scrapped for their copper.  Copper prices were rising so much that it became profitable to melt the coins because eventually each one contained more than a half cents worth of copper.

It has been over 170 years since the last Half Cent was made. All coins of the 19th century are getting rarer and more desirable every day, and this is one of the most fascinating and desirable coins from this era. Very few have survived for todays collectors, and this coin is prized by collectors everywhere.

The total mintage of all Half Cents in the 64 years from 1793 to 1857 is about equal to the number of modern Lincoln Pennies struck every six days!  And just a tiny fraction of the original coins have survived for todays collectors. The coin in this collection is carefully hand-selected for exceptional collector quality and is displayed in a custom presentation with a Certificate of Authenticity.