1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime. LM-3. Rarity-7+. Specimen-67 (PCGS). This incredibly beautiful 1794 half dime, the finest certified by PCGS, is another “wonder coin.” It will nicely satisfy the desire and dream of anyone building a type set or variety collection of ultra quality. In the Heritage offering it was described as, “remarkable for its strike, reflectivity, lack of contact, and overall quality.” Problems were trivial. This was far and away the finest seen, a coin of “immense importance.”

Although dies for 1794-dated half dimes were prepared, the only silver coinage of that year was comprised of half dollars and dollars. The half dime dies were held over and first used in 1795.

There seems to have been no desire to use the 1794 dies first, as evidenced by the 1795 variety whose reverse die state is later than one of the 1794-dated varieties. The coinage of half dimes was sporadic in the early years. First was the 1792 half disme, made prior to the opening of the Philadelphia Mint facility, followed by Flowing Hair issues dated 1794 and 1795 and the Draped Bust obverse, Small Eagle reverse pieces of 1796 and 1797, after which there was no coinage until 1800, the start of the Draped Bust obverse and Heraldic Eagle reverse type. Mintages of 1801, 1802 (in particular), 1803, and 1805 were modest, skipping 1804. No further half dimes were made until 1829 when John Reich’s Capped Bust design was utilized.

Provenance: Heritage ANA Sale, October 2012, lot 3822.

Rarities Auction Accompanying the D. Brent Pogue Collection

Stack’s Bowers Galleries will be hosting an exclusive Rarities Auction, held in conjunction with The D. Brent Pogue Collection. We will be accepting limited consignments of United States and world coins and paper money, featured in a spectacular catalog reserved for the rarest of the rare. Special terms will apply. If you are interested in participating in this unique opportunity, please call 949-748-4849 or email us at [email protected].

Alternatively, you can fill out our online consignment form. Click here to view the form.