The Half Dollars of 1801-1807

The United States half dollar is, like the silver dollar, based on the Spanish system of silver coins. There were eight reales in a dollar, which meant that the 4 reales was equivalent to 50 cents in our system. When the United States Congress passed the basic Mint Act in April 1792, the half dollar was at first something of an orphan with nowhere to go as the 4-reales coin had been little used in North America prior to that time.

Silver coinage began at the Philadelphia Mint in October 1794 with the silver dollar, but only a few were made; the coining press was not powerful enough to bring up the design and most of the pieces looked poorly struck. Depositors were asking for their coins and mint officials decided to strike half dollars until a more powerful press could be built. From November 1794 through May 1795 there was a heavy coinage of the smaller denomination.

When silver dollar coinage resumed in May 1795, the demand for half dollars fell to almost nothing and very few were struck the rest of the year. Bullion depositors needed dollars for the export trade and half dollars were inconvenient, although they could be used if necessary. For this reason there was no half dollar coinage in