1796 Half Dime - 1796 Half 10C NGC XF40. 1796 Half-Dime, LIKERTY, Valentine 1, LM-1. This attractive, medium toned, LIKERTY half-dime has silvery-gray devices over somewhat darker fields, especially on the reverse. The surfaces are original and clean for the grade with virtually no visible distracting abrasions worthy of individual mention. Unlike many coins of this era, there are no adjustment marks. Traces of original mint luster remain within the devices. The B of LIBERTY has a die imperfection that makes it somewhat resemble a K. The usual central weakness is seen, especially on the reverse.

The LIKERTY half-dime, identified with the berry below the D in UNITED, is a lapped die state. A die is lapped when the surface is ground or filed away to remove clash marks or flow lines. In this state the top and base of the B in LIBERTY gradually weakened leaving a letter that looks like a K.

Designed by Robert Scot, the Draped Bust, Small Eagle Reverse half-dime shows a draped bust of Liberty in profile with her hair tied with a ribbon. The word LIBERTY is above and the date is below. In 1796 there were 15 stars on the obverse of the coin. The 1797 issue had three varieties with 15, 16, and 13 stars. For the first two years of the Draped Bust half-dime, the Small Eagle reverse was used; it shows a skinny eagle perched on a wreath that is tied with a bow and surrounded by the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The denomination does not appear on the coin, and the edge is reeded.

The portrait is modeled on a drawing by the famous artist Gilbert Stuart. Mrs. William Bingham was the model. She was a Philadelphia socialite and one of the most beautiful women of her time. Engraver Robert Scot used Stuarts portrait as the basis for his engraving. John Eckstein was probably responsible for the eagle motif of the reverse. The palm branches on the right side of the wreath are a compliment to Mint Director Henry William DeSaussure who was from South Carolina; however, by the time the coins of this design were made, he had resigned his position. Nearly all varieties of this design in all denominations have central weakness. The worst of these is probably the half-dime.

DeSaussure, wished to place gold coinage in circulation and to improve the design of the other denominations especially silver. This desire is the reason he engaged Gilbert Stuart to submit a drawing for the new coinage. Unfortunately, Scots lack of ability required the hiring of Eckstein, who created models for the device punches; however, Ecksteins lack of skill translated into a portrait that the Stuart family refused to acknowledge. In 1795 DeSaussure resigned his position because of illness and hostility from Congress. Many of the lawmakers wanted to abolish the Mint and continue the practice of using copper coins made at British token factories and foreign silver and gold coins. Elias Boudinot became the Mint Director after DeSaussure.

The early Mint in Philadelphia had many challenges. 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 Mints 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. In addition to yellow fever, chaos at the Mint was also caused by chronic bullion shortages, coin dies that would wear out and had to be re-engraved because they were not taken out of production until they failed completely, and a Chief Engraver, Robert Scot, who was in his seventies and had failing eyesight. 

Scot was born in 1744 in Edinburgh, Scotland or England. (Documentary evidence is lacking as to where he was born.)  He was trained as a watchmaker in England and learned engraving afterwards. He moved to the United States in 1777, where he worked as an engraver of plates, bills of exchange, and office scales. During the Revolution, he was an engraver of paper money. In 1780 he was made the State Engraver of Virginia. He moved to Philadelphia the next year. He was appointed Chief Engraver of the United States Mint on November 23, 1793 by David Rittenhouse, Mint Director. Scots ability to make dies was limited, and in his advanced years, he had failing eyesight. His work was somewhat less than that done in Europe at the time, and Scot was criticized for its poor quality. He was responsible for designs of most of Americas first coins.

In its population report, NGC show 5 1796 LM-1 LIKERTY half-dimes in XF40 condition.