The Half Cents of 1840-1857

In late January 1791, Treasury-Secretary Alexander Hamilton presented to Congress his report on the establishment of a mint and coinage. He noted 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 half cent is low enough for the minimum of price. Excessive minuteness would defeat its object. To enable the poorer classes to procure necessaries cheap, is to enable them, with more comfort to themselves, to labor for less; the advantages of which need no comment.”

When the mint law was enacted in early April 1792, Hamilton’s suggestion was carried into effect. The first half cents were coined in July 1793 but until 1799 their mintage was erratic at best, depending upon supplies of copper. It was not until July 1800 that ready-made planchets were obtained from pioneer English industrialist and coiner Matthew Boulton of Birmingham, England.

From 1804 to 1811, half cents were struck in great quantities. So many, in fact, were made that they became almost commonplace in public usage. Familiarity sometimes breeds contempt for coins of little value, and thus