Classic Head Half Cent
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A total of 3,637,912 Classic Head Half Cents were made between 1809 and 1836.
Specifications
- Designer: John Reich
- Obverse Design: Liberty Bust
- Reverse Design: Coin denomination within a wreath
- Edge: Plain
- Weight: 5.45 grams
- Diameter: 23.5 millimeters
- Composition: Copper (100%)
- Dates Minted: 1809 - 1811, 1825 - 1836
Background
There have been several times in U.S. coinage history where a particular coin design came out in a “family” of denominations. For instance, the 1794-95 Flowing Hair design on U.S. silver coins was shared by the half dime, half dollar and dollar. Similarly, the “Barber” coin designs of 1892-1916 were shared by the dime, quarter and half dollar. Usually, though, whenever a particular U.S. coin design emerges as a family of denominations, those sibling coins share a particular time span, or at least a rough time span. An example of this would be the Capped Bust designs that were featured on U.S. half dimes, dimes, quarters and half dollars. Though the Capped Bust design didn’t begin on the same year for all denominations, the Capped Bust design ended for all four denominations in 1837. But then there is the case of the Classic Head half cent. It too had a “sibling”: the Classic Head large cent. But while the Classic Head half cent and large cent both started at roughly the same time (1809 and 1808 respectively), the Classic Head half cent design kept going and going, long after the Classic Head large cent was retired.
The Classic Head half cent of 1809-35 is the most commonly encountered of all the half cents. Like all half cents, this is a scarce coin type, but had the highest mintages of any U.S. half cent type. Actually the Braided Hair half cent of 1840-57 was struck over a longer period of time, but only in its final years of 1849-57 were any of them really struck for circulation. The Classic Head half cent is the only half cent to have a mintage of over 1 million in a single year—that being 1809. And that was the only year ANY half cent mintage reached 1 million!
The Liberty bust on the Classic Head half cent strongly resembles the Capped Bust liberty head on the U.S. silver coins of 1809-37. Still, there is enough difference to classify the Classic Head coppers and the Capped Bust silver coins as two different coin design types. As it is, the Classic Head half cent shared its design only with the Classic Head large cent. Both coins feature a husky, heavily-curled Miss Liberty (derided in her day as the “Blowsy Barmaid”) wearing a French type cap and headband reading “Liberty.” On the reverse, the coin denomination is spelled out within a wreath. The Capped Bust large cent made its debut in 1808. As far as half cents in 1808, the Draped Hair half cent was finishing up its run. The Classic Head large cent’s little half-cent sister wouldn’t appear until 1809, the year Abraham Lincoln was born!
History
At first, it seemed that the Classic Head large cent was destined to outlive the Classic Head half cent. After 1811, the Classic Head half cent vanished. Meanwhile, the Classic Head large cent kept on being struck through 1814, after which, it too disappeared. In 1815, no U.S. copper coins were struck, but when copper coinage resumed in 1816, it resumed in the form of a new large cent: the Coronet Head large cent. But as for the half cent, it was nowhere to be seen. Logic dictated that if the half cent was to return, it would be a Coronet Head half cent. But fourteen years passed without any new strikings of half cents.
Then, in 1825, the half cent made a comeback. But instead of a Coronet Head half cent to parallel the Coronet Head LARGE cent that had been in production for nine years, the U.S. Mint simply continued on with the Classic Head half cent design! In fact, strangely, while the Coronet Head large cent continued on through 1839, the Classic Head half cent was struck alongside it for nearly that long. The end for the Classic Head half cent finally came in 1835, though there was a proof-only striking in 1836. Why a Coronet Head half cent was never struck as a “sibling” to the large cent, it’s hard to say. Perhaps since the half-cent was not an all-important coin denomination by the 1820’s, the U.S. Mint may simply have elected to save money on creating new coin dies.
Collecting
There are only a couple of truly scarce, high price-tag dates for circulation strike Classic Head half cents. One would be the 1811 date. There were just 63,140 struck that year, but the small-ish mintage alone must not tell the whole story. Apparently it’s much harder to track down than the 1825 half cent which ALSO has a mintage of just 63,000 yet retails for much lower. The 1811 half cent retails $225 in Good and $750 in Fine! By comparison, the 1825 half cent retails only $45 in Good and $75 in Fine. Clearly, despite the similar mintages between these two dates, far fewer 1811 half cents have survived. Another even rarer date is 1831 --—only a little over 2,000 were struck and they retail at around $5,500 in Good.
As mentioned before, the 1809 Classic Head half cent is the most common date of the series with a mintage of 1.1 million. But it’s a popular date as it comes during the “Early U.S” period --—the time of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Also, it’s the first year of issue, and those are always popular. But the larger numbers of this date being out on the market keeps the retail value in Good down to around $35 in Good and $55 in Fine. Most other dates in the Classic Head half cent series retail for just a few dollars more than the 1809, even though later dates have far smaller mintages—in many cases 100,000 or less!
Classic Head half cents don’t enjoy nearly the collector popularity that the earlier half cents (Flowing Hair, Liberty Cap, Draped Bust) do. One reason is that they just come in at the tail-end of the “Early U.S.” period, so they don’t have quite the same romance of the earlier half cents. Still, the Classic Head half cent is a great opportunity to own a coin that’s both an early U.S. classic (no pun intended) and a low-mintage coin type. Prices are still very reasonable for even nicer circulated grades. Take advantage!
Grading
Happily, the Classic Head half cents don’t seem to suffer from the same planchet quality problems as its sibling, the Classic Head large cent. It’s far easier to track down a Fine to Very Fine Classic Head half cent than it is the Classic Head cent. Certainly, one reason for this is that half cents didn’t circulate nearly as much as large cents. But it still appears that the planchet quality for the Classic Head half cent was better than for its large cent sibling.
Price Guide
Mints
- Philadelphia Mint (no mintmark)
External Links
- CoinFacts.com Classic Head Half Cents (1809-1836)
- CoinResource.com Classic Head Half Cents 1809-1836
