Braided Hair Half Cent

The Braided Hair Half Cent was the last major change to the half cent and was designed by new Chief Engraver Christian Gobrecht. The obverse was updated by giving Liberty a slimmer, more youthful appearance. Minor tweaks continued through 1843, and the 1843 design prevailed through the end of mintage in 1857.

Specifications

 * Designer: Christian Gobrecht
 * Obverse Design: Miss Liberty facing left surrounded by stars
 * Reverse Design:
 * Edge: Plain
 * Weight: 5.44 grams
 * Diameter: 23 millimeters
 * Composition:  Copper - 100%
 * Dates Minted: 1840-1857

Background
The Braided Hair half cent of 1840-57 is a strange U.S. coin type. In more ways than one.

The Braided Hair half cent is very much an “afterthought” coin. It’s definitely an afterthought to many collectors. It's easy to think of the half cent as mainly being an early U.S. coin of the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. Yet there is the Braided Hair half cent, struck for seventeen years in the mid-1800’s. Judging by the small mintages and ten-year clearing-its-throat period when it came to striking circulation issues, the Braided Hair half cent was clearly an afterthought to the United States Mint as well.

Also, how many circulation-issue U.S. coin types began life as special Proof-only strikes-- for a period of TEN YEARS! That’s what I meant by the U.S. Mint’s ten year “clearing its throat” period. What’s more, there are actually RESTRIKES of those Proof Braided Hair half cents— for some dates, there is not just one, but TWO restrikes which took place in the mid-1800’s, a few years after the originals were struck.

Yes, that’s how the Braided Hair half cent got its start —-as special Proof-only strikes from 1840 through 1848. In 1849 there were also Proof issues struck, but in that same year, circulation-issue pieces were struck for the first time. Each one of these Proof condition Braided Hair half cents of 1840-49 retails around $6,000—and that goes for the restrikes as well! If these Proof half cents happened to get into circulation and get worn down to, say, Good condition, they still retail $1,000. There was also a truly rare Proof-only mintage in 1852, which retails $12,000 in Good (remember, “Proof” is not so much a condition-for-wear as a special kind of strike) and around $90,000 in original Proof state! HOWEVER, know that the 1852 Proof RESTRIKES retail much lower, at around $7,000 in original Proof, $1,000 in worn Proof.

History
The Braided Hair half cent was the first U.S. half cent to be struck since the end of the Classic Head half cent in 1836. The design of the Braided Hair half cent was identical to that of its big sibling, the Braided Hair large cent of 1840-57. It was designed by Christian Gobrecht.

The Braided Hair half cent is actually a great deal scarcer than the earlier Classic Head half cent AND Draped Hair half cent. In fact, it actually rivals the Liberty Cap half cent in terms of mintage scarcity. From 1849 through 1857, only two dates, 1851 and 1853, have mintages above 56,000! Even so, the “common” 1851 and 1853 dates have mintages of only 147,672 and 129,694 respectively!

Collecting
The 1851 retails $45 in Good, and $75 in Fine. For the other circulation-issue dates of 1849, 1850, and 1853-56 all retail $50 in Good, $90 in Fine. The last year of issue, 1857, is valued a bit higher at $80 in Good, $200 in Fine, even though its mintage (35,180) isn’t much lower than the other dates.

Finding a higher-grade Braided Hair half cent is not all that hard. There was little demand for the half cent by the 1840’s and 1850’s, so they didn’t circulate that much.

True, because of their scarcity, even “common date” Braided Hair half cents start out at $50 in Good, but then look how little the increments go up per-grade from there: Very Good ($75), Fine ($90), Very Fine ($125) Extra Fine ($160). It’s only when you get up to the grade of Uncirculated that the price makes a significant leap to $300.

It may or may not be a coincidence, but the Braided Hair half cent, and indeed half cents as a U.S. coin denomination, ended in 1857. It was ALSO in 1857 that legislation passed stating that Spanish silver coins would no longer be legal tender within the United States. If you recall, it was the Spanish silver coins that were largely responsible for the creating of the half cent (remember, the Spanish one reale was the equivalent of 6 and ½ U.S. cents)!

There are few devotees of the Braided Hair half cent. Only those with a LOT of cash to spare could afford a full date set of this series, considering the first ten dates all start at $1,000—and that’s not even counting the RESTRIKES, if you want a REALLY complete set! Instead, most collectors are happy with just one Braided Hair half cent for their U.S. type collection or sub-collection of half cent types. Even the Early Copper specialists don’t swarm over to this series, as those folks tend to stick with the 1793-1814 U.S. coppers. But this coin does represent the last gasp of the half cent series, so that alone makes it an important coin for any collection.

Mints

 * Philadelphia Mint (No mintmark)