The invention of the steam engine made coins easier to manufacture. In 1837 the scientifically constructed Seated Liberty half dime was created by Christian Gobrecht. In 1840 Miniaturist Robert Ball Hughes re-designed Seated Liberty by adding drapery at her elbow and placed the shield in an upright position.

The design was again changed in 1859 by an engraving assistant, Anthony C. Paquet. He added hollow stars around the Seated Liberty.

The Seated Liberty half dime was redesigned for the last time in 1860 by engraver Longacre. This new design is known as the Legend Obverse type and the seated Liberty is holding a pole that is topped with a Liberty Cap. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was placed instead of the thirteen stars that surround Liberty on the earlier versions of this coin. Gone was the simple reverse leaf and in its place were sprigs of corn, wheat, oak and maple, all tied with a bow. HALF DIME spelled out on the reverse. This coin was minted in Philadelphia and New Orleans in 1860 and in San Francisco. The mintmark is below the bow except for the San Francisco coins of 1870 through 1872 where it is inside the wreath.

When grading the Seated Liberty half dime pay attention to the hairlines, evidence of cleaning or retooling of the design. Half dimes were used extensively in jewelry during the 1870s and 1880s as tie tacks, buttons, pins and cuff links.

The half dime was authorized in 1792 by Congress. The pattern in 1792 was known as the Martha Washington, the wife of first president George Washington.

In 1794 Robert Scot of the US Mint designed the Flowing Hair style half dime and this was used on the new denomination instead of Birch’s design. Liberty faces right and has flowing hair. There are seven stars to her right and eight behind her. A rather small and undernourished eagle is perched on a cloud on the reverse. The Flowing Hair coin was only struck in 1794 and 1795. The design used in 1796 and 1797 followed artist Gilbert Stuart’s suggestion. Stuart designed the painting of Washington on the current one dollar bill.

The Draped Bust and Small Eagle design were next and both coins had a two year run. In 1802 the Draped Bust and Heraldic Eagle half dime came to be, but are rare. Only 13,010 pieces were struck and there are only 16 known specimens today.

In 1829 the Capped Bust design was adopted and the words FIVE CENTS was used for the first time. An eagle with a shield appeared on the reverse in 1829 and ran through 1837 which was then replaced with the Christian Gobrecht design of Seated Liberty with HALF DIME appearing on the reverse. Stars and drapery were added to the design in 1840. The Seated Liberty design went on with a few minor modifications through the end of the half dime’s production in favor of the nickel 5 cent coin of today.

The half dime saw its final year in 1873 as Congress was moving to revamp the entire coinage system.

Scot’s design for the Draped Bust Half Dime in 1800 was the design that was used previously on the gold quarter eagles in 1796, the gold half eagle in 1797 and the dollars and dimes in 1798. LIBERTY appears above her head and there are seven stars on the right and six on the left. On the reverse is a large eagle with wings spread out and an olive branch. In his beak is a ribbon that has the Latin Motto E PLURIBUS UNUM (One made up of many). There are thirteen stars above the eagle and an arc of clouds above the stars. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is around the periphery.

There were a total of 124,270 Draped Bust Half Dimes minted from 1800 to 1805. The most rare date of the series is 1802 as only 3,060 were minted.

The production of the Draped Bust Half Dime ended in 1805 as the markets and the banks much preferred the large quantities of Mexican silver half reales which were valued at six cents. The half reales were used extensively in the United States.

When making purchases totaling five cents, the fee could be paid in many ways. Large copper cents and half cents were used daily. The small silver coin known as the half dime was also used.

The Mint in Philadelphia made the first regular issue half dimes in 1794 and they featured the Flowing Hair portrait of lady Liberty. The Draped Bust replaced this design in 1796 and was being produced through the year 1805 in combination with a small eagle reverse and from 1800 onward, with a heraldic eagle. Suddenly at this time, the half dime disappeared from the US’s currency for no reason given and did not make a re-appearance for twenty more years. It is thought that the banks had a preference for the easy to get Mexican half reale coin. The reale circulated alongside US federal coins and had legal tender status.

When Andrew Jackson became president in 1829 the half dime returned. It had been changed to a left-facing Liberty with curly hair that was tucked inside a cap. The Capped Bust was born. On the reverse was a naturalistic eagle with a shield on its breast.

There are thirteen stars around the portrait of Liberty and the date below. On the reverse is E PLURIBUS UNUM on a ribbon above the eagle and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA at the upper rim.

The Capped Bust half dime was around as long as Jackson served his two terms in the White House as the seventh president. The Capped Bust half dime was minted in Philadelphia. The Capped Bust was replaced by the Seated Liberty in 1837.