Half Cents - The Half Cent
is the lowest face value coin struck by the United States.
The early Mint in Philadelphia had many challenges. Conditions
were poor even at times chaotic. Each of the specialists,
the designers, engravers, and press operators were men who
had previously worked in other fields. Coin manufacturing
was a new trade for them. Production was sporadic. For the
new Mint to coin each of the mandated denominations, it
took four years. This delay was partly because of inexperience
and governmental obstacles. Bonds that were unrealistically
high were impediments to engravers working with precious
metals. Congress was not united on the need for a government
mint since private and foreign coinage seemed to work. Because
of the non-existent or low production numbers in the early
years of the Mint, foreign copper, silver and gold circulated
along with American made coins for many years until they
were later demonetized.
Record keeping in the Mint’s early
years was fairly inaccurate. At the end of the eighteenth
century Philadelphia had recovered from the British occupation
and Revolutionary War. It was the second largest city in
the English-speaking world, but it could do nothing to protect
its citizens from the mosquito-borne epidemic of yellow
fever. Its wealthy citizens went to the countryside to escape,
and the poor grimly waited their fate. Of course these annual
epidemics caused havoc with all manufacturing that required
continuity, such as a coinage sequence. The Mint shut operations
during the late summer and early fall every year. In addition
to yellow fever, disorder at the Mint was also caused by
chronic bullion shortages and coin dies that would wear
out and had to be re-engraved because they were not taken
out of production until they failed completely. Often dies
were locked up and later taken out of storage without great
attention and care. There was also a jealous Chief Engraver,
Robert Scot, who was in his seventies and had failing eyesight.
