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Week #314 - Bonus Week! So many winners!

Started by Melissa Pearce,

20 posts in this topic

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Melissa Pearce

Melissa Pearce

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QUESTION:

 

It's BONUS WEEK!

 

Why was the value statement of the half dollar changed from “50 CENTS” to “HALF DOL.” in 1838?

 

Good Luck!

 

Our first 5 correct responses as well as 5 other randomly chosen participants will receive the "NumisMedia Fair Market Value Price Guide" for May 2008.

 

REMINDER: The Numisma-Quest ends on Saturday at midnight EST. Entries after that time will not be valid. See the Trivia info post for more details.

 

When you post your answer, only the administrators can see it. Stop back this Monday. We will make all the posts visible and announce the winners.

 

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bsshog40

bsshog40

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I'm thinking it had something to do with the metal changes in 1837, that each coin had to have the metal content to equal it's denomination in reference to the Dollar. When the metal content changed so did the 50cents to a Half Dollar to represent it's value of half of a dollar value.

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rrantique

rrantique

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Very few coins of any denomination were jingling in most Americans' pocket change in 1838; the depression had led to hoarding of federal coinage, and so-called Hard Times tokens were being widely used as a money substitute. Gobrecht made other changes, using larger and heavier lettering and tinkering with details like the eagle's talons and feathers.

The shift from 50 CENTS to HALF DOL. was presumably for uniformity with the quarter dollar and silver dollar.

 

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cpm9ball

cpm9ball

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Because there was no way the government could make the public believe that this relatively small coin could be worth the same as 50 of those large cents. (shrug)

 

Chris

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Muleman

Muleman

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To help cut down on fake coins in 1836-38 they modified Lady Liberty making her slimmer, the Reeded edge . Also in 1838, other changeswere made like using larger and heavier lettering . The eagle feathers were modded also.

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just-john

just-john

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The first reeded-edge half dollars were very close in appearance to the Capped Bust halves that preceded them. The portraits of Liberty on the obverse and the eagle on the reverse were basically the same as those fashioned three decades earlier by engraver John Reich, but both sides also revealed subtle refinements by a new Mint engraver, Christian Gobrecht. Among other things, the 13 stars on the obverse were reduced in size, Liberty was slenderized, E PLURIBUS UNUM was removed, and the statement of value was modified: Instead of saying 50 C. like its predecessor, the new coin read 50 CENTS in 1836 and 1837 and HALF DOL. thereafter. In 1838, Gobrecht made other changes, using larger and heavier lettering and tinkering with details like the eagle's talons and feathers.

 

Strictly speaking, the reeded-edge half dollars dated 1836 are patterns, since the legislation authorizing this coinage didn't win passage until January 18, 1837. They're widely viewed as regular issues, though, since most of them were placed in circulation. In 1838, the very first branch-mint half dollars came into being at New Orleans and promptly joined the roster of great U.S. rarities. Just 20 pieces, all proofs, were struck that first year; they carry an "O" mintmark above the date. These are the only proofs in this short series. New Orleans made halves again in 1839, this time in numbers approaching 179,000. Output at the main mint in Philadelphia was in the millions annually from 1837 through 1839.

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Melissa Pearce

Melissa Pearce

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QUESTION:

 

Why was the value statement of the half dollar changed from “50 CENTS” to “HALF DOL.” in 1838?

 

Answer: To conform to the new type of quarter dollars introduced that year.

 

Congratulations to EVERYONE , yes even our late entries. Everyone will receive a copy of The May 2008 edition of the Numismedia FairMarket Value Price Guide.

 

Please privately email me your mailing address, even if you have won in the past

 

Thanks for playing this weeks Numisma-Quest. Don’t forget to stop by for this weeks PMG question.

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