page_title: Half dime
section_title: Heraldic eagle reverse (1800–1805)
hierarchical_section_title: Half dime / Draped Bust (1796–1805) / Heraldic eagle reverse (1800–1805)
caption_attribution_description: English: 1800-5C-Draped Bust (heraldic eagle)JN2015-6564-65
context_page_description: 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.
  The following types of half dimes were produced by the US Mint or under the authority of the Coinage Act of 1792:
context_section_description: Following a two-year hiatus, mintage of half dimes resumed in 1800. The obverse remained essentially the same as the prior version, but the reverse was revised substantially. The eagle on the reverse now had outstretched wings, heraldic style. This reverse design first appeared on gold quarter and half eagles and then dimes and dollars in the 1790s. Mintage of the series never surpassed 40,000, with none produced in 1804. No denomination or mintmark appears on the coins; all were minted in Philadelphia.
caption: 1800 Draped Bust half dime with heraldic eagle reverse
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