The Half Cent I find have always been a scarce United States Coin but depending on your budget most are affordable in collector grades
The Half Cent was minted from 1793 - 1857
Liberty Head Type 1793 - 1797
Draped Bust Type 1800 - 1808
Clasic Head Type 1809 -1836
Braided Hair Type 1840 - 1857
1797 NO This was sold but I was told it was lost in the mail. But someone signed for the coin
1800 STEMS VF+ $495 new very nice planchet
The 1804 Half Cent as a young kid in 1956 when I was 10 years old my older brother Roy (5 years) would take me on a bike to the Rod & Gun Club
to the rifle range just before the sun would set. The guys practicing with their 22 caliber rifles would shoot at 1/2 cent coins at 25 yards , 50 yards, & 100 yards .Every month we would find at least 9 to 20 1/2 cents not damaged usually on the 100 yard marker. The Gun club would set a coin in a small slot attached to a wood close pin. There were 20 coins on the 25 yard line , 50 coins on the 50 yard line , & 20 set on the 100 yard line. The 1804 1/2 cent was usually the one you always found in change & the most used at the rifle range. The coin was attached to a string & if you hit the coin the close pin flew up in the air. Or that was how it was to work. Many times hitting the board or the close pin & the coin would go flying. One day we took 5 to the bank to change for a nickel & the teller said they were damaged & could not take them. Some guy said I know where you got these. We left & Roland out Dad brought them to the next town over but this time we gave him 50 with nicks or some type of damage . He turned them in & we went for ice cream. We kept all the good ones that were never hit.
Total mintage of the 1804 was 1,055,312 with 5 varieties very distinctive varieties. The plain 4 with stems, the plain 4 no stems, crosslet 4 stems, crosslet 4 no stems. Then their was the ugly one with a spike coming out of the bottom chin. We called this our Aunt Mable who hated us kids & beat us with a wood yard stick But many years later around 1960 I found out it was a variety called spiked chin..
All the varieties you will recognize very easily.
From what I have seen the Crosslet 4 variety is a C12 B11 R2
the no stems variety is C13 & the only variety I have ever seen
1804 No Stems Die state 13 B10 R1 is the most plentiful die state plain 4 variety.
If you lok closr there is no boarder dentils & this dictates the die state
1804 PLAIN 4 NO STEMS VG+ $125 Variety the only one I know of =C13
1804 PLAIN 4 NO STEMS VF $265 Total in Slab are around 40 & with just this many I dont understand
1804 PLAIN 4 NO STEMS EF $450 how they can have a Fine 12 of one, A Fine 15 of two
1804 PLAIN 4 NO STEMS EF $450 How much difference is there & where are the requirements
1804 PLAIN 4 NO STEMS EF $450 in print how to distinguish the difference??????????
1806 STEMS LARGE 6 FINE+ $185 The Oligarchy is always in control.FINE 15 Can any one show
1806 STEMS LARGE 6 EF $485 me the difference between Fine 12 & Fine 15.
1806 NO STEMS SMALL 6 VG $125 When did VF20-VF25-VF30-VF35 BECOME SO TECHNICAL
1806 NO STEMS SMALL 6 FINE $175 YOU HAVE TO HAVE A GRADING COMPANY TELL YOU THE
1806 NO STEMS SMALL 6 VF $285 GRADE.
1806 NO STEMS SMALL 6 VF $285
1806 NO STEMS SMALL 6 EF $500
1807 VG $140
The 1808 has a mintage of 400,000. This was always an interesting coin to me. In 1972 I had several Coin Dealers from Monterey to San Francisco California tell me there were 2 Varieties of the 1808 1/2 cent.
The first Variety is the Norman Strike & when I asked how is a normal strike a Variety I heard from all the dealers the same thing. A normal strike is a Variety.
The 2nd Variety was 1808 / 7 error with an 8 / over a 7. You can see part of the 7 on the top of the 8 usually on both ends of the 8. At a Coin Show in San Jose California A old man man with a cane looked like he was going to fall down & I went out & put him in a chair gave him a Pepsi & a ham sandwich.
I asked him if he was OK & he said he had been trying to sell some coins & no one wanted them. I said let me look at them & he pulled out 4 small black books with a total of 52 1/2 Cents. I was quite astonished & understood why no one wanted the coins. Every Coin Dealer I ever asked a question of I wrote down the answer. They dident have the time for 1/2 Cents or Large Cents to much work & they only wanted Morgan Dollars. I said how long have you had these & he astonished me & said he got them out of change from the bank in his home town in New York by turning a Large Cent for 2 each 1/2 Cents He was 96 years old & at the age of 7 years old was Apprenticed to a Blacksmith & then at 10 years old he was Apprenticed to a Stone Mason where he continued his trade until he turned 81 years old.. I asked him how much he wanted for the coins & he said $50.00 & I asked him if I could take a half hour to go through the coins. He said OK & he said he would go out side & take a nap if the police left him alone.
The first 4 coins I pull out to look at I new I couldent afford 1795 pole one good the other was VG. The next 2 coins were 1805 small 5 with stems. I shook my head & couldent believe what I had already looked at. around 10 minutes later Walter Breen came to my table . He new I bought a lot of Large Cents & I asked him if he could look at this old mans coins. He sat at our back table & one hour he said estimate was $110 Thousand Dollars. I asked him if I could go get the old man who owned the coins. He was sound asleep & I brought him back into the show & Walter talked to him& Walter had already called the Company he worked for & asked the old man if he would go to LA on the train with him & his company would put him up in a hotel. The Guy said I only want $50. I talked him into going with Walter. That afternoon they left for LA. I did not feel good about paying $50 when I new the collection was worth thousands. Three months latter Walter comes into the store & hands me a package. I opened it & it said thank you with $1,000 in it from the old man. The collection was worth $252,000. The old man moved back to New York & bought his fathers 50 acre land & it was all grown with trees & bushes. On the land was a cemetery of his family from 1780 had all the stones repaired the old house rebuilt out of granite blocks to live out the rest of his life.
I had Dealers tell me I was crazy not just buying the collection but I always hope that when I am 90+years old some one will be honest with me.
One variety a C 3 is a nice scarce die strike variety . The 2nd 8 in the date was formed with the 0 punch from a fraction, punching one time & the second time above the first. I was told & finally confirmed the die only had 180 no second 8 because it was broken & added later.
1808 LARGE 8 VG $138
1808 LARGE 8 VF25 $295
1808 LARGE 8 VF30 $310
1809 VG $90 1809 Mintage is 1,154,572 with around 500 coins graded in slab.
The 1809 Half cent die state you will usually findd will be C3 B4 Ri Ron Manley die state 1.0.
This variety always has a counter clock wise revers . They also have cracks through star 3 & 4 I always had to use a 10 power magnifier or a loop to see the cracks. Many have weakness along the rim on lower grades.
I new several of the early graders & like many people they thought they new everything but you will find that they did not understand or in my opinion which means nothing they really did not understand what they were doing or did a very good job when they started grading 1/2 Cents or Large Cents. This is really verified by the quantity in slabs verses the quantity of Morgan Dollars & I still dont think they do a great job there either..
1809 VG $90
1909 VG+ $95
1809 FINE $97
1810 VG $85
1812 12 STARS FINE $95
1812 12 STARS VF+ $110
1812 13 STARS FINE+ $98
1812 13 STARS VF $100
1812 13 STARS VF $100
1812 13 STARS VF+ $110
The 1826 Half Cent has 2 Varieties very few people pay attention to.
The major problem is the I in LIBERTY. You will find it very weak all the way up to UNC .
VF 1/2 will be missing at the top. AU missing in the middle.
1826 13 STARS VG* $82
1826 13 STARS FINE + $90
The 1828 Half Cent has 2 varieties many people miss when looking at the coin.
There is the 12 Star Variety & the 13 Star Variety with a combination mintage of 606,000
1828 12 STARS FINE $95
1828 12 STARS VF+ $112
1828 13 STARS FINE + $98
1828 13 STARS VF $100
1828 13 STARS VF $100
1828 13 STARS VF+ $110
1828 13 STARS EF $120
1828 13 STATS EF $120
1828 13 STARS EF $120
1829 VF+ $90
1832 VF $105
1832 VF $105
1832 VF $105
1832 VF+ $110
1832 EF $135
The 1833 Half Cent is a very interesting coin for several reasons . The biggest reason is most likely others collectors & dealers have never to my knowledge found out the true mintage. I did have a dealer told me many years ago he new the true mintage but it was not his responsibility to tell me what it was. So knowing over 60 coin dealers around the country that sold a lt of 1/2 cents I wrote a fax & letters to each & each told me things I could not put on paper they have heard from this same guy from ? & they dont even talk to him any more. In the 1970s most dealers still did not have a computer.
Sad when coin dealers do not want to talk to a Coin Dealer about information to help collectors.
Except, I did have one who said when you walk behind cows after they have eaten & you get to close to their tail you start to smell like them. I hung this on our wall for a long time. I think he was telling me the guy was full of excrement .. But the 2 figures every one has stuck with is 103,000 & 120,000.
This figure also came from Walter Breen in September 1972 at the Santa Clara Coin Convention in Sunnyvale California.
All of the 1833 1/2 cents that I have bought & sold are C1 B1 R1 Manly Die State 1.0 .
As of last year I have only sold a quantity of 312 coins mostly in EF condition.
They were only produced from a single pair of dies & I know up to 1970 had been a common date.
At Gillios Boston New England show in 1980 A man told me there was a friend of his that use to go to a coin shop GUTTAG BROTHERS IN NEW YORK CITY & he bought hundreds of UNC 1833 coins from them. I was busy & never did get his name to talk to him more.
NGC told me a good 10 years ago there was also a C2 but I have never seen it.
1833 EF $125
1833 EF $125
1833 EF40 $130
1833 EF45 $140
1834 EF $150
1835 FINE $90
1835 VF $100
1835 VF35 $100
1835 EF45 $180
1835 EF45 $180
1835 AU $190
1849 EF $145
1849 EF+ $175
1849 EF45 $240
1851 VF+ $120
1851 VF+ $120
1851 EF $125
1853 VF+ $95
1853 EF $105
1853 EF+ $130
1854 EF $120
1854 EF+ $130
1855 EF+ $130
1856 EF $110
1857 EF $170
1857 EF $180