1793 Half Cent PCGS VF25 CAC - 1793 Cent, C-2, R3, PCGS VF25BN, CAC. This eye-appealing 1793 Half Cent has glossy, clean, hard surfaces with no pitting, spots or other distractions that can be seen without magnification. The chocolate-brown and darker brown colors attest to the coins originality. The date, the denomination, and the fraction are sharp for the grade. Some varieties are lightly defined at HALF CENT, but that is not the case with the present coin; all of its legends are bold. The hair above Libertys forehead shows some detail, and the balance of the hair is detailed and distinct. The CAC sticker indicates that this piece is a premium quality coin that fully merits the assigned grade.

Probably designed by Henry Voigt, the half-cent of 1793 was a one-year-only type. The 1783 Libertas Americana medal was the model that Voigt apparently used. The Libertas Americana medal was engraved in Paris in 1782 at the behest of Benjamin Franklin, who suggested its motifs and mottoes. The French artist Esprit-Antoine Gibelin made the sketches, and Augustin Dupr did the engraving. The obverse shows Liberty facing left with LIBERTAS AMERICANA above and the date 4 JUIL 1776 below a double horizontal line. Behind her is a liberty cap on a pole. The reverse shows the infant Hercules who symbolizes the United States, in his cradle strangling two serpents. His nurse, Minerva who represents France, shields the infant from a lion, Great Britain.

The obverse of the half-cent is similar to the medal. It shows a left facing Liberty in profile. Above her head is the inscription LIBERTY with the date 1793 below. Behind her head is a liberty cap on a pole. There are no horizontal lines above the date, and the pole is at s sharper angle so that its end is above the truncation rather than below it. Also on the half-cent, the cap lies on the pole in a more natural way. Libertys hair is not as wild on the coin compared to the medal, and it curls toward and slightly below the date. The reverse shows the denomination in two lines in a wreath of laurel tied with a bow at the bottom. Within the ribbons of the bow is the fraction one-two hundredths. The whole is circumscribed by the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The edge is lettered TWO HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR.

According to Breen, Adam Eckfeldt engraved the dies for the half-cent based on a sketch provided by David Rittenhouse, which could have been given to him by Franklin.

Henry Voigt was the first Chief Coiner for the Mint. His permanent commission was signed by President Washington on January 29, 1793, and he remained in his position until his death in 1814. Voigt was born in Pennsylvania in 1738. During the Seven Years War of 1756 to 1763, his family moved to Saxony Germany, their homeland. When the war was over, he took a position at the Royal Mint of Saxony where he learned how to use all of the machinery and how to make every part himself. He even made improvements to the minting machinery during his time there. He was an ideal candidate to work at the first United States Mint. When he returned to America, he worked as a clockmaker in Philadelphia and became an assistant to David Rittenhouse, a well known watch and clock maker. In 1771 he assisted Rittenhouse in the construction of an orrery, a mechanical device that illustrates the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in the Solar System.

The first orrery was made in 1704 and presented to the Earl of Orrery, from whom the device received its name. They are usually driven by a clock work mechanism. When the Revolutionary War broke out, Voigt helped manufacturer gears, guns, and gunlocks for the Continental Army. In 1780 he manufactured wire in Reading, Pennsylvania, and, with his brother Sebastian, once again became a clockmaker. In 1787 he developed a steam engine to power a boat, and he and his brother manufactured steam engines. Both applied for work at the new Mint. Voigt gained the position probably because of his previous association with David Rittenhouse. He became Chief Coiner and Superintendent, the second person in charge. He oversaw the construction of the buildings and the installation of the equipment.

Adam Eckfeldt was the second Chief Coiner at the Mint. He worked occasionally for the Mint until mid 1795 when he became a permanent employee. He was a blacksmith and machinist and so he worked on various projects including adjusting the presses and making die stock. The claims that Eckfeldt engraved several dies in 1793 are unsubstantiated by Mint or other records. His duties included forging, heading, and annealing the dies that others engraved. In 1796 he was hired as the assistant to Chief Coiner Henry Voigt. He worked as Voigts assistant until Voigts death in 1814, when he was appointed Chief Coiner by President James Madison. When Engraver Robert Scot died in 1823, Eckfeldt recommended William Kneass to replace him. Eckfeldt is also noted for keeping first strike or master coins that became the basis of the Mint Collection, which is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian