Half Cents of 1800-1808

One of the by-products of the current attention to the gold and silver markets is the interest in the larger bullion coins, such as the Saint-Gaudens $20 gold pieces. Yet, in looking at the long history of United States coins, the smallest value, the lowly half cent, is equally worthy of examination even though it is made of pure copper.

The half cent is one of our oldest denominations, having been proposed in 1784 as an American coin by none other than Thomas Jefferson. Author of the Declaration of Independence as well as a future president, he was then a congressman in the Confederation government. In 1785 the idea was formally adopted into law and in 1786 was given the official name of half cent, Jefferson merely stating a value and not a name.

Although the Confederation planned to strike the half cent and other coins, a lack of money meant that the well-laid plans of 1786 were a dead letter even before the ink had dried. (No Mint building was ever built by the Confederation government.) As a result, the idea of a coinage for the United States lay dormant until late January 1791, when Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton presented his famous report on this subject to Congress. He noted, in reference to the proposed copper coinage, that:

Pieces of very small value are a great accommodation and the