Half Cent - Braided Hair (1840-1857)

Specifications, Details and General Information

By James Bucki, About.com Guide

Obverse	Reverse
Click on the images above to view a larger photo Image Courtesy of: Heritage Auction Galleries, Ha.com

Background and History

No half cent coins were minted between 1811 in 1825 because there was no commercial demand for them. The mint used existing stockpiles to fill commercial orders. Production of Classic Head half cents began again in 1825 but gradually trailed off until 1835 with a small peak of 398,000 coins.  It was common practice in the mid-1800s for the United States to give visiting dignitaries proof sets of our most current coins. Mint Director Robert Paterson tasked engraver Christian Gobrecht to create dies especially for this purpose.  Although commercial demand for the half cent was relatively nonexistent, a new design for the half cent was created in 1840 and dies were prepared.  Most production centered on minting proof specimens however, small quantities of business strike coins were produced starting in 1849 and continuing through 1857. In the 1850s, coin collecting began to become a popular hobby in the United States. Some unscrupulous mint employees retrieved the old dies and began to "restrike" proof half cents for collectors. When Mint Director James Ross Snowden discovered this practice, he confiscated all the dies and locked them in the mint's vaults. The half cent denomination was officially retired in 1857.

Coin Values and Prices:

• Braided Hair Half Cents Values (1840-1857)
• Braided Hair Half Cent Coin Prices (1809-1836)

Detailed Specifications

Production Years, Mints and Types

The Braided Hair half cent was minted as indicated in the following table.  The table lists the years, strike type, mint facility where made, the mint mark used on the coin and a description of any type differences in coins minted for that year. Many coins were restruck in later years using the original obverse dies and reverse dies that were not original. This enables the collector to discern which specimens are re-strikes and which are original.

Errors and Varieties

The following are popular errors and varieties that Braided Hair half cent collectors look for. These coins usually carry a premium and are valued above a common coin.

Mintage Figures

The following table lists the numbers of coins produced (if known) for the Braided Hair half cent taking into consideration the strike type in minting facility. Where possible, production numbers by strike type are noted.

Suggested Books on Braided Hair Half Cents

• American Half Cents: the "Little Half Sisters"; Roger S Cohen; Publisher: Wigglesworth & Ghatt Co. (1982)
• Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of United States Half Cents, 1793-1857; Walter Breen; Publisher: American Institute of Numismatic Research; First Printing edition (1983)
• Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins; Walter Breen; Publisher: Doubleday; 1 edition (May 1, 1988); ISBN-13: 978-0385142076
• The Half Cent Die State Book 1793-1857; Ronald P. Manley, J.R. Grellman Jr.; Publisher: pub. By author; 1ST edition (1998)
• The Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties, 5th Edition, Volume 1; Fivaz, Bill and J.T. Stanton; Publisher: Whitman Publishing, Atlanta (2009); ISBN-13: 978-0794822859

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