Flowing Hair Half Dimes 1794-1795

The Mint struck its first silver coins in 1794, and the half dime was one of them. Robert Scot's Flowing Hair design went on the half dime, the half dollar and the dollar alike, because the Mint then gave all its silver coins a common look. His Liberty resembles the head on the 1794 cents and half cents, without their cap and pole.

None of the half dimes dated 1794 left the press that year. NGC reports that all of them were coined in March 1795, when dies already cut with the earlier date were put to use rather than discarded. They were counted among the half dimes delivered in 1795, so the year totals in the references are a division of one figure. Coinage dated 1795 followed, and NGC records Mint State pieces surviving from a hoard that the dealer W. E. Woodward sold in the 1880s.

The design did not last. Critics found Scot's Liberty and his eagle unrefined, and in 1796 the half dime, like the other silver coins, changed to the Draped Bust.

Obverse. Liberty faces right with long hair falling freely down her neck, LIBERTY above and the date below. Fifteen stars run along the rim, eight on the left and seven on the right.

Reverse. A small eagle with raised wings stands on a cloud or rock inside a wreath of two olive branches, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the border. There is no denomination.

Edge. Reeded.

Mint mark. None; every coin was struck at Philadelphia.

Striking. Early half dimes were often struck unevenly, with some parts of the design sharp and others weak, on worn and Mint State coins alike.

Things that cause confusion.

• The 1792 half disme. It reads HALF DISME and LIB. PAR. OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY, has no stars, and was struck outside the Mint.
• Draped Bust half dimes. From 1796 Liberty's hair is tied with a ribbon and her bust is draped.
• Copper strikes. Copper pieces from regular 1794 dies, such as Judd-15, are listed among the patterns as die trials.

Die marriages. Collectors attribute these coins by Logan-McCloskey (LM) number, from Federal Half Dimes (1998), or by the older Valentine (V) numbers of 1931. NGC counts four marriages for 1794, from three obverse and three reverse dies, and ten for 1795, from eight obverses and five reverses.

• 1794: struck in March 1795 from four die marriages. References give its mintage as 7,756 or 7,765.
• 1794 specimen: 1794 half dimes struck with unusual care, probably from polished dies and planchets, are certified as specimens rather than Mint State.
• 1795: 78,660 struck, from ten die marriages. USA Coin Book and CoinWeek give 86,416 for the two dates together.

• Composition: about 89.24% silver and 10.76% copper (NGC and CoinWeek round it to .892)
• Weight: 1.35 g, holding 0.0387 troy oz of silver
• Designer: Robert Scot
• Diameter: 16.5 mm
• Edge: reeded