United States of America – Seated Liberty Half Dime 1857 O Silver Half Dime (5 Cents) 15.5mm (1.20 grams) 0.900 Silver (0.0359 oz. ASW) New Orleans mint Reference: KM# A62.2 (1856-59) | Mintage: 1,380,000 Engraver: Christian Gobrecht LIBERTY 1857, A seated bust of Liberty dividing 13 stars above representing the original 13 colonies. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HALF DIME, Wreath, mint letter O below.
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The half dime, or half disme, was a silver coin, valued at five cents, formerly minted in the United States.
Some numismatists consider the denomination to be the first business strike coin minted by the United States Mint under the Coinage Act of 1792, with production beginning on or about July 1792. However, others consider the 1792 half disme to be nothing more than a pattern coin, or “test piece”, and this matter continues to be subject to debate.
These coins were much smaller than dimes in diameter and thickness, appearing to be “half dimes”. In the 1860s, powerful interests promoting the use of nickel as a metal for use in coinage successfully lobbied for the creation of new three and five cent coins, which would be made of a copper-nickel alloy; production of such coins began in 1865 and 1866, respectively. The introduction of the copper-nickel three and five-cent pieces made the silver coins of the same denomination redundant, and both silver denominations were discontinued in 1873.
Seated Liberty (1837–1873)
These were the last silver half dimes produced. The design features Liberty seated on a rock and holding a shield and was first conceived in 1835 used first on the silver dollar patterns of 1836. The series is divided into several subtypes. The first was struck at Philadelphia in 1837 and New Orleans in 1838 and lacks stars on the obverse. In 1838 a semicircle of 13 stars was added around the obverse border, and this basic design was used through 1859. In 1853, small arrows were added to each side of the date to reflect a reduction in weight due to rising silver prices, and the arrows remained in place through 1855. The arrows were dropped in 1856, with the earlier design resumed through 1859. In 1860, the obverse stars were replaced with the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the reverse wreath was enlarged. This design stayed in place through the end of the series. In 1978 a unique 1870-S Seated Liberty half dime became known. The Seated Liberty half dime was produced at the Philadelphia, San Francisco and New Orleans mints in an aggregate amount of 84,828,478 coins struck for circulation.[11][12][13] See also United States Seated Liberty coinage.
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