The tiny coin’s (0.93-inch) designers and engravers are some of the best known names in the U.S. Mint’s designing and engraving history: Robert Scot, John Gardner, Adam Eckfeldt, Gilbert Stuart, John Reich and Christian Gobrecht. The half cent designs were incorporated on other denominations later throughout many years.

The Liberty Cap half cent of 1793 has a lettered edge with the words ‘two hundred for a dollar’. The coin’s front shows a bust of lady Liberty with flowing hair. She is facing left and has a Liberty Cap on a pole that is resting on her right shoulder. Another Liberty Cap half cent was struck between 1794 and 1797 only this one has Liberty facing right and it was issued with a plain, lettered and gripped edge.

The Draped Bust design was used on half cents that were minted from 1800 to 1808. Every half cent with these years were of the plain edged variety.

Between 1809 and 1836 the Classic Head design was used and from 1849 through 1857, a Coronet design with a plain edge was used. Every half cent has a wreath on the reverse side.

There are no mint marks on any of the half cent coins and they were all minted at the Philadelphia Mint.

The half cent was unwanted in America and over the several decades of lifespan of this coin, very few actually circulated, although they were used by the poorest people. The coins were considered a nuisance and they were long neglected by collectors until later years.

Reich designed the Classic Head half cent and he portrayed Liberty in a more reserved manner than the Draped Bust design. Liberty was given a narrow headband, which was criticized because only young males wore the band in ancient times in Greece as a prize awarded for winning athletic competitions. Reich received more criticism from people who thought the depiction of Liberty was made to represent Reich’s “fat mistress”.

Liberty faces left on the Classic Head half cent and the headband displays the word LIBERTY. A circle of beads follows along the rim and thirteen six point stars frame the portrait with seven on the left and six to the right. The date is below the portrait.

The reverse side of the Classic Head half cent features a dentilled rim and inside is a concentric circle that is formed by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA which is split at the bottom by the ends of a laurel branch with berries that forms an inner wreath. At the center is HALF CENT with each word on a separate line with a dot between. There is a short line under CENT. All half cents such as this were produced at the mint in Philadelphia and carry no mint mark.

Every original 1831 proof half cent is very expensive. Coins are described as Brown (BN), or Red-Brown (RB) or Red (RD). The RB half cents are less common than the BN and the RD coins are the rarest. The most valuable dates include 1811 and 1831. There were very few proof examples minted of the Classic Head half cent. Some of the proofs are re strikes and all are rare and expensive.

The new Braided Hair half cent replaced the Classic Head. It was a simple design that gave a bit of dignity to the lowly half cent. Liberty’s bust has braided hair in a bun at the back of her head and ringlets of hair hanging down below the base of the bust and she faces left. She wears a tiara with LIBERTY on the tiara. There is a semicircle of thirteen stars surrounding her head. The reverse features John Reich’s half cent design of 1809 which features HALF CENT framed in a wreath that is tied with a bow at the bottom surrounded by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The Braided Hair half cents of 1840 through 1849 were only made as proofs and were given to visiting diplomats in sets or were sold to collectors. The business strike orders only numbered around 16,000 coins per year. In late 1848 the Mint vaults still contained 82,000 half cents and then in 1849 as the supply ran dry, small order were received by the Mint and the coin began production again. This was stimulated by the growing shortage of silver coins that were being taken out of circulation because of the rising price of silver. Minting continued until 1857 when the denomination was discontinued. After 1850 most of the Braided Half cent coins went to U.S. Post Offices where they were used for making change.

Braided Hair half cents, even if they are found in unused condition, normally have blemishes due to copper being subject to carbon spots and corrosion marks, depending on the environment of where they were found. Look for wear spots on Liberty’s hair and on the hair curls on the lower portion of her neck. On the reverse check for traces of wear on the wreath and the 3 and 9 o’clock positions as well as on the bow.

The half cent coin totally died out in 1857.

A new type of Liberty bust was featured on the new Draped Bust. She looked more feminine and younger with long hair that flowed and curled down her back. The top of her bust was showing, although covered by drapery. The edge is plain and on the reverse a wreath and “Half Cent” inside the wreath was featured, virtually unchanged from the half cents of 1793 and 1794 to 1797.

The public did not particularly like the half cent denomination, but in spite of that there were 211,530 Draped Bust coins minted, which was quite significant for the time. The reason the U.S. made half cents in the first place had to do with the proliferation of Spanish-Colonial silver coins that were circulating in the United States. The U.S. Mint was making silver coins at this time, but not enough. The public still liked to use the Spanish and Spanish-Colonial silver as goods were often priced in Spanish measurements.

Even though the half cent did circulate, it did not flood U.S. commerce as the large cent was the popular small change coin of choice. It is not too rare to run across a Draped Bust half cent in Fine or Very Fine condition, but do keep in mind that they are not exactly laying around. The Draped Bust is the one most available and affordable U.S. coins for collectors today.

The U.S. half cent, made of copper, began being produced on April 2, 1792 and during the 64 years of circulation there were five basic design types of the coin. The half cent coin was made at the Philadelphia Mint and carried no Mint mark.

The designers and engravers of this coin were some of the most well known designers and engravers at the U.S. Mint: John Gardner, Robert Scot, Gilbert Stuart, Adam Eckfeldt, John Reich and Christian Gobrecht. The same designs that were used on the half cent were also used on other denominations later on for many years.

The Liberty Cap half cent coin in 1793 has a lettered edge that reads two hundred for a dollar. The coin features a bust of Liberty facing left. A Liberty Cap on a pole is on her right shoulder which gives the design its name, the Liberty Cap. Agustin Dupre’s Libertas Americana medal was the inspiration for the design of this coin.

The half cents that were produced between the years 1794 and 1797 have another Liberty Cap Design. This one is facing right and was issued in Plain Edge, Lettered Edge and a few Gripped Edge variations.

The Draped Bust design was used between 1800 until 1808 and all are of the Plain Edge variety.

Between 1909 and 1836 the Classic Head design was used on the half cents. A Coronet design with a Plain Edge were used from the years 1849 to 1857. All half cents have a wreath on the reverse side.

In spite of the fact that the half cents were issued for over 60 years, they were America’s unwanted coins. They were of little use to people, circulated poorly and were often kept in dead storage at the Mint waiting for the infrequent request for them at new banks. The production of the half cent coins at times was interrupted by the shortage of copper and from lack of demand. The poorest people were the biggest users of the half cent which measured approximately 22 millimeters and has a weight of 6.74 grams.

For generations coin collectors ignored the half cents but today the Liberty Cap Half Cent is a highly sought-after coin.