The Allure of the Bygone Half Cent
DENOMINATIONS OF United States coins that are no longer seen in the marketplace are perhaps among the most interesting to collectors. One of the more alluring of these bygone pieces (especially to those who specialize in early copper coins) is the lowly half cent, the smallest value struck by the United States Mint.
Even in its heyday, which lasted from 1793 until Congress abolished it in 1857, there were areas of the country which rarely, if ever, saw a half cent being used to pay for goods. Yet there were other localities in which this denomination was relatively common and well used, especially by young children.
The history of this coin really began in early March 1790, when Congress asked Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to draw up a plan for creating a national coinage and a mint to go with it. The resulting 15,000-word report was sent to Congress in late January 1791.
A key part of the proposal was the Secretary’s comment that “If there are only cents, the lowest price for any portion of a vendible commodity, however inconsiderable in quantity, will be a cent; if there are half cents, it will be a half cent, and, in a great number of cases, exactly the same things will be sold for a half cent, which, if there were none, would cost a cent. But a
