1856 Half Cent Patterns
Base
About This Coin
Produced at the Philadelphia Mint during the twilight of the half cent denomination, the 1856 half cent pattern tested a new alloy for a coin on the verge of obsolescence. The half cent had served since 1793, but inflation had eroded its purchasing power to where many merchants refused it. Regular production of the Braided Hair half cent ceased after 1857. The only pattern of the year, Judd-177, used the regular 1856 dies on copper-nickel planchets; Mint Director James Ross Snowden sent fifty to the Secretary of the Treasury on July 11, 1856 to show the alloy proposed for the new cent (Walter Breen, quoted by USPatterns). The Act of February 21, 1857 ended both the half cent and the large cent.
Specifications
Strike Types & Varieties(1)
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