The recent upsurge in collecting, fueled by the different series of quarter-dollar designs that began in 1999, has begun to reach out to other denominations. One such area of growing interest is the silver half dime struck from 1792 through 1805.
The mint law of April 1792 named the half dime as one of our coins; it was loosely based on the Spanish half real, worth 6.25 cents. Unfortunately, the Spanish version was more widely used and the half dime was rarely seen in the marketplaces of this country prior to 1829.
Not long after the mint law was passed the government decided to begin coinage with the half disme, as it was spelled in those days. (The Mint used this version for internal records until January 1837, when a new mint law changed the spelling to half dime. Today, collectors use the old version to refer to the coins struck in 1792 while all later issues get the normal spelling.)
One of the enduring questions is how the word disme was pronounced. Contemporary documents show beyond any doubt that it was just the same as dime today. In mid-July 1792 about 1700 half dismes were struck under the personal supervision of Mint Director David Rittenhouse and Chief Coiner Henry Voight. (Thomas Jefferson received 1500 pieces of this mintage for his personal use.) Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this coinage is that the President was in direct control of the Mint.
