The 'half dime' was a
silver coin, valued at five
cents, formerly
minted in the
United States.
The denomination was one of the
original coins first authorized in
1792, and production began the following year. These coins were much smaller than dimes, in diameter and thickness, appearing to be "half dimes". In the
1860s, powerful
nickel interests successfully lobbied for the creation of new coins, which would be made of a
copper-nickel
alloy; production of such coins began in
1865 and were struck in two denominations —
three and
five cents (the latter debuting in
1866).
The introduction of the copper-nickel five-cent pieces rendered the
silver coins of the same denomination redundant, and they were discontinued in
1873.
The following types of half dimes were produced by the
United States Mint:
Flowing Hair Pattern, 1792
Flowing Hair 1794-1795
Draped Bust (Small Eagle Reverse) 1796-1797
Draped Bust (Heraldic Eagle Reverse) 1800-1805
Capped Bust 1829-1837
Seated Liberty (various subtypes) 1837-1873
1870-S half dime
In 1978 a coin collector surprised the coin collecting community with an 1870-
S half dime. According to mint records for 1870, no half dimes had been minted in San Francisco; yet, here was a genuine 1870-S half dime. At an auction later that same year, the 1870-S half dime sold for $425,000.
Canada
Canada also once used silver coins of five-cent denomination; they were colloquially referred to as "fish scales," due to the fact that they were very thin (the term "half dime" never having been used in Canada), and were produced until Canada also switched to
nickel five-cent pieces in
1922. With the decision to change to nickel, the remaining stock of 5 cent silver, including almost all of the 1921 production, was melted down. Only about 400 examples of the 1921 5 cent survive today and these coins rank among the best known rare coins in the annals of Canadian
numismatics.
See also
★
Dime (Canadian coin)
External links
★
US Half Dime information by year and type.
★
Half Dime Pictures
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