Flowing Hair Half Dime

The Flowing Hair Half Dime is a silver coin produced in the United States from 1794 to 1795. It is one of the earliest coins struck by the United States Mint and was a part of the initial coinage authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. As its name would suggest, the coin featured a design of a woman’s head with flowing hair on the obverse side, while the reverse side depicted an eagle.

The Flowing Hair Half Dime was a small silver coin with a face value of five cents. It had a diameter of 17.5 millimeters and a pure silver content of 1.35 grams. The obverse side featured a design of a woman’s head with flowing hair. The design is believed to have been based on a painting done by artist Gilbert Stuart and was thought to represent Liberty. This design appears to differ slightly from the modern design of Liberty on the dime, likely due to the limited technology available to the mint at the time. The reverse side of the coin featured a small eagle with its wings spread, with a shield on the front and thirteen stars in the sky above, symbolizing the thirteen original colonies.

The Flowing Hair Half Dime is considered to be one of the most important coins in the history of the United States. It was an innovative product of both the industrial and arts movements happening in the United States, and it represented the start of a modern national currency. In addition, at the time, it was worth a great deal more than its face value. Consequently, these coins were often hoarded by collectors and not returned to circulation, making them relatively rare today.

The Flowing Hair Half Dime was produced in two versions: one with the edge lettering “100 CENTS ONE DIME” and the other without. Both versions are considered to be valuable collector's items today. They are graded by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and can fetch prices ranging from a few hundred to thousands of dollars depending on their condition and grade.

In conclusion, the Flowing Hair Half Dime is an important coin in the history of the United States, and it is highly sought after by both coin collectors and numismatists. It was a product of both the industrial and arts movements, it represented the start of a modern national currency, and it is valuable due to its rarity.