Draped Bust Half Dollar

Despite their relatively high mintages, few Draped Bust Half Dollars were preserved in pristine mint condition.

Specifications

 * Obverse Designer: Robert Scot
 * Reverse Designer: John Eckstein
 * Obverse Design:
 * Reverse Design:
 * Edge: Lettered - FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR (various ornaments between words)
 * Weight: ±13.5 grams
 * Diameter: ±32.5 millimeters
 * Composition:  Silver (89.2%), Copper (10.8%)
 * Dates Minted: 1796-1807

Background
True, some people’s definition of “Early U.S Coinage.” can extend up to 1830. But traditionally, any “Early U.S.” coin is pre-1815, and when it comes to silver U.S. coins, pre-1808. So when most people refer to “early U.S. silver,” they are referring to the Flowing Hair type silver coins or the Draped Bust silver coins. All are scarce. All are relatively costly. But the most affordable early U.S. silver coin on today’s market is the Draped Bust half dollar of 1796-1807. Only thing is, the Draped Bust half dollar may not be your easiest early U.S. silver coin to find.

Like the other Draped Bust silver coins– the half dime, dime, quarter and dollar– the Draped Bust half dollar was designed by Chief Engraver Robert Scot, even though some credit artist Gilbert Stuart with the original concept. The Draped Bust half dollar was our nation’s second half dollar coin, the first being the Flowing Hair half dollar of 1794-95. The new Draped Bust half dollar debuted in 1796, which, unfortunately, was the beginning of a two-year silver shortage at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. Consequently, the COMBINED mintage of half dollars for 1796 and 1797 was a little over 3,000 pieces!

Collecting
Not only are the 1796 and 1797 Draped Bust half dollars rare, but they are also a two-year type unto themselves. Only in this year does the Draped Bust half dollar feature the scrawny eagle reverse– different from the Flowing Hair half dollar scrawny eagle, but scrawny nonetheless. To push the value up even more for this two-year type, the 1796 and 1797 half dollars are the only 18th century Draped Bust half dollars struck. Both dates are extremely hard to find and will be extremely hard on your wallet. Each date retails $29,000 in Good, $40,000 in Fine.

As you can probably guess, the 1806 Draped Bust half dollar will likely be the easiest date to find in the series, as well as your least (but not by much) expensive. In fact, all the Draped Bust half dollars of 1803-07 are the least expensive early U.S. silver coins on the market! They retail around $115-$125 in Good, $180-$250 in Fine. An 1806 half dollar in Very Fine only goes up to $340 retail value. It’s when you get up to grades of Extra Fine (1806 retails $1,000) and higher, that values really soar– after all, these would be large-size early U.S. silver coins in a really high grade. THOSE kind of coins are in demand.

Remember I said that the Draped Bust half dollar, at least the common dates, would be your least expensive early U.S. silver coin? That may be true, but I don’t believe it will be your easiest to find. That distinction, I believe, goes to the Draped Bust quarter, which retails $175-$190 in Good. The fact is, I see a lot more Draped Bust quarters for sale in lower circulated grades, than I do Draped Bust half dollars. In fact, I think a Draped Bust half dollar in the grade of Good is harder to find than a Draped Bust half dollar in the grade of Fine. The reverse would be true for the Draped Bust quarter. It’s an interesting situation, and one that COULD mean that the Draped Bust half dollar is actually UNDER-valued in the grades of Good -Very Good!

History
No half dollars were struck in 1798-1800. In those years, the U.S. Mint decided to place almost a complete emphasis on silver dollar production. But by 1801, the Mint decided to go back to a more balanced approach, striking not only silver dollars but the other silver denominations as well. The Draped Bust half dollar returned in 1801, but this time, with the bolder Heraldic Eagle reverse. This eagle, its robust wings spread wide, clutched a sheath of arrows in one talon, an olive branch in the other. In its beak was a banner that read, “E Pluribus Unum”. Above the eagle, a canopy of stars. Production of the half dollar didn’t exactly soar in 1801 and 1802 – mintages were around 30,000 in both years. But it was a vast improvement over the years of 1796 and 1797.

Something happened in 1804 to make the last three years of the Draped Bust half dollars, by far, the most productive yet for the half dollar denomination. It was in 1804 that President Thomas Jefferson suspended production of the silver dollar due to abuses in the way it was exported out of the country to be traded for Spanish pesos of higher silver content. The silver dollar would not be struck again until 1840. That meant that after 1804, another large-sized silver coin needed to step to the forefront to replace the dollar coin. Of course, that coin would be the half dollar!

Mintages went up for the half dollar in 1805 with 211,722 struck. Then, in 1806, half dollar production soared into the stratosphere, with a record (up to that date) number 839,576 struck! Half dollar production went down in 1807 (perhaps due to the REALLY high 1806 mintage), but still stood at a healthy 301,076 pieces struck.

Interestingly, by 1808, the half dime, dime, quarter and silver dollar had all been temporarily put to sleep. Only the half dollar denomination continued unabated after 1807, but it continued on in the form of the Capped Bust half dollar. In fact, the Capped Bust half dollar replaced the Draped Bust half dollar midway through 1807, thus, the Draped Bust half dollar was the first early U.S. coin design to not make it through to the end of 1807.

Mints

 * Philadelphia Mint (No mintmark)