Coinage Act of 1792 and Half Dollar Production

I want to fly like an eagle
Till I'm free
Oh, Lord, through the revolution
--Steve Miller

After the Constitution was ratified, an early objective of Congress was to commence the coining of money (a power authorized by Article 1, Section 8). Promoting business and trade was high on the congressional agenda. In addition to facilitating a strong economy, a strong sovereign monetary system was widely viewed as a necessary attribute of a legitimate sovereign state--something that the young United States wanted to demonstrate.

Because the production of gold and silver coinage was particularly held as a sign of financial strength, Congress was anxious to get going.

The Coinage Act (a.k.a. The Mint Act) of 1792 established the US Mint (including authorization for the first facility in Philadelphia), key positions at the Mint, and specifications for various denominations of gold, silver, and copper coinage. The act authorized the following denominations:

gold: eagle ($10), half eagle ($5), quarter eagle ($2.50)
silver: dollar ($1), half dollar ($0.50), quarter dollar ($0.25), dismes ($0.10), half dismes ($0.05)
copper: cents ($0.01), half cents ($0.005)

Lower denominations included proportionately lower amounts of precious metal.

The obverse of all gold and silver coins were to employ an image emblematic of liberty, the inscription LIBERTY, and the year of coinage. The reverse was to include a representation of an eagle and the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

While production of copper coinage commenced in 1793, there was a delay in production of gold and silver denominations. In addition to operational complications with starting up a new mint, Congress had decreed that key mint personnel needed to post bonds of $10,000 apiece before they could work with gold and silver. While a laudable precaution to protect the American people from fraud, the $10K requirement was an enormous sum by 18th century standards, and the mint personnel were unable to post bond. Congress lowered the bond requirement after the mint director secured the intervention of Thomas Jefferson who was then Secretary of State. The lower bonds were subsequently posted, and precious metals coinage began in 1794.

The first silver coin produced was the dollar. Being the largest and having the highest face value, dollars were viewed as possessing the most prestige. Early dollars did little to solve a solution to the nation's monetary needs, however, as coining presses had trouble coping with the coin's size and design. The presses constantly broke down during dollar production.

Silver coin production shifted to the more manageable half dollar denomination. In addition to being easier to make, the half dollar was a popular denomination for everyday trade and well utilized in circulation. It was a coin for Everyman, and remained that way for more than a century.

Given the half dollar's centrality to monetary US history, future posts will profile the various silver half dollar designs (a.k.a. as 'types') employed during the 'hard money' days of the United States. Six primary types were produced from 1794 through 1947.