1807 1/2C, BN (Regular Strike)
Series: Draped Bust Half Cents 1800-1808
PCGS MS64BN
PCGS MS64BN
PCGS MS64BN
- PCGS #:
- 1104
- Designer:
- Robert Scot
- Edge:
- Plain
- Diameter:
- 23.50 millimeters
- Weight:
- 5.44 grams
- Mintage:
- 476,000
- Mint:
- Philadelphia
- Metal:
- Copper
- Auction Record:
- $18,000 • MS64BN • 03-25-2020 • Stack's Bowers
Rarity and Survival Estimates Learn More
| Survival Estimate | |
|---|---|
| All Grades | 800 |
| 60 or Better | 50 |
| 65 or Better | |
| Numismatic Rarity | |
|---|---|
| All Grades | R-5.4 |
| 60 or Better | R-8.5 |
| 65 or Better | R-10.1 |
| Relative Rarity By Type All Specs in this Type | |
|---|---|
| All Grades | 15 / 18 |
| 60 or Better | 10 / 18 |
| 65 or Better | 1 / 18 |
| Relative Rarity By Series All Specs in this Series | |
|---|---|
| All Grades | 15 / 18 |
| 60 or Better | 10 / 18 |
| 65 or Better | 1 / 18 |
Condition Census What Is This?
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#1 Est. MS64BN
As PCGS MS64BN #12273550. “The ESM Collection,” Stack’s Bowers, March 19, 2020 – $18,000. Manley Die State 3.0. Die rust apparent. Top of the letters of the legend are somewhat soft. Minimal denticulation. |
|
#1 PCGS MS64BN
"The Bill Weber Collection," sold privately. As PCGS MS64BN #05645218. “The Red Headed Copper Collection,” Heritage Auctions, August 16, 2018, Lot 5023 – $27,600. As PCGS MS64BN #36272890. "The High Desert Collection" (PCGS Set Registry). Manley Die State 3.0. Dentils largely absent. Small die crack at the top of 7. Pin-sized lighter copper toning spot to the right of Liberty's mouth. |
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#1 PCGS MS64BN
Stack’s, August 1971, Lot 508 – $135; "The Willard C. Blaisdell Collection"; "The R.E. “Ted” Naftzger, Jr. Collection,” via Del Bland, September 1976; Marketed in William K. Raymond’s August 1977 Fixed Price List – $600; "The R. Tettenhorst Collection (Bernard Edison)," by sale, August 1977; "The Missouri Cabinet Collection"; As PCGS MS64+BN CAC. “The Missouri Cabinet Collection of U.S. Half Cents," January 2014, Lot 87 – $71,875; to D. Brent and Mack Pogue. As PCGS MS64BN #32708219. “The D. Brent Pogue Family Collection, Part V,” Stack’s Bowers / Sotheby’s, March 31, 2017, Lot 5057 – $37,600; Dell Loy Hansen; "The D.L. Hansen Half Cents & Cents/Major Varieties and Proof (1793-Present) Collection" (PCGS Set Registry). Reverse rotated 40° counterclockwise. Tick on cheek, neck, hair above ear. Dark spot to the immediate right of 7. Strong hair detail. |
#4 PCGS MS63+BN
Garry Fitzgerald; Mid-American Rare Coin Auctions, September 1984, Lot 44. As PCGS MS63+BN #30451262. “The James R. McGuigan Half Cent Collection,” Heritage Auctions, August 22, 2022, Lot 3078 – $7,800. Mint red has faded but left behind iridescent luster. Die details consistent with Manley Die State 3.0. Dark spot at 2 o'clock near rim. Orange copper color near 9 o'clock. |
#4 PCGS MS63+BN
Jim McGuigan, 2013; Bruce Gimelson; "The Garrison Collection," Heritage Auctions, January 10, 2024, Lot 3058 - $10,800. Late die state. Tick on 1 of denomination. |
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#6 PCGS MS63BN
"The Siesta Key Collection," Heritage Auctions, August 28, 2025, Lot 3637 - $6,000. Manley Die State 3.0. Die crack through 7 to the bust truncation. Thin diagonalal streaks across Liberty's hair. Diagonal scratch across neck. Another running perpindicular across Liberty's mouth and chin. Dark spot under E of LIBERTY. Spotting on the reverse and a dark area covering the center and bottom right. |
#6 PCGS MS63BN
"The Carvin Goodrich Collection"; As PCGS MS63BN #26013111. Heritage Auctions, February 27, 2025, Lot 3007 - $6,600. As PCGS MS63BN #58651363. Late Die State. Crack through 7 to the bust truncation. Thin curved scratch from the top of Liberty's bow to the rim. Scattered reddish spots on the reverse. Legend is weakly impressed, especially UNITED STATES OF. |
#6 PCGS MS63BN
As PCGS MS63BN #25354152. Legend Rare Coin Auctions, July 17, 2014, Lot 1 - Passed. As PCGS MS63BN #25242345. Heritage Auctions, January 7, 2015, Lot 3082 – $9,987.50. As PCGS MS63BN #25636387. Legend Rare Coin Auctions, August 10, 2017, Lot 3 - $7,000; Heritage Auctions, December 7, 2017, Lot 3007 – $8,400. As PCGS MS63BN #38556448. Heritage Auctions, June 4, 2020, Lot 3006 – $6,900. Manley Die State 3.0. Dark curved mark to the left of Liberty’s hair ribbon. A second dark mark near the edge near the 9°clock position. On the reverse, the top of the legend is weak. Dark area underneath LF. |
#6 PCGS MS63BN
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| #6 PCGS MS63BN |
| #6 PCGS MS63BN |
Introduced in 1800, The Draped Bust was the second design type for the half cent, a denomination that was intended to be an important "coin for the everyman," aiding in small transactions. However, the half cent never truly resonated with the public. Its fate was sealed by economic forces: due to rising copper prices and the coin's diminishing spending power, the U.S. Congress formally abolished the half cent via the Coinage Act of February 21, 1857.
A Close Look at the 1807 Draped Bust Half Cent
The 1807 Draped Bust Half Cent (#1104) is one of the more common issues within its design type, though its precise mintage remains a long-standing subject of debate among numismatists. The coin was produced using a single die pair, designated Cohen-1 or Eckberg 1-A (#35203) in standard references. This pair combined a new 1807 obverse die with the reverse C die carried over from the 1806 issue (#1099). A distinctive identifying feature of this reverse is a spike protruding from the right side of the fraction bar.
Mintage Controversy
The officially cited mintage figure for the 1807 half cent is 476,000. However, this figure is highly contested because there is only one known die pair for the issue, and early American dies were not expected to last long enough to strike that many coins.
- Walter Breen, in his Complete Encyclopedia, surmised that the actual mintage was a fraction of the official number, suggesting only 38,000+ were struck.
- Early American Coppers (EAC) expert Bill Eckberg also disputes the official figure. In his 2019 reference, The Half Cent, 1793-1857: The Story of America’s Greatest Little Coin, Eckberg attributes 199,000 of the reported 476,000 to the preceding Large 6 1806 Draped Bust Half Cent.
- This revision leaves an estimated mintage of 356,000 for the 1807-dated half cents, which would have been delivered from August 4, 1807, to early April 1808.
United States Mint records complicate the matter further, officially reporting four deliveries totaling 476,000 pieces across a seven-month period. The surviving population suggests that Breen’s number may be too conservative, but the true mintage remains unknown.
The Quality of the 1807 Draped Bust Half Cents as Struck
The quality of this issue largely depended on the condition of the planchet and the dies. All half cents dated 1807, as with all other Draped Bust half cents, were struck on high-quality blank planchets imported from Matthew Boulton and Company’s Soho Mint in England.
Strike and Die State Characteristics
Early Die State: Examples struck from rust-free dies are very rare, featuring full denticles and full legends. Early to mid-die state coins plainly show slightly rotated repunching of the number 7.
Later Die State: Examples show prominent die flow lines, weak-to-flat denticles, and poorly defined tops of the legend lettering. The hair detail on Liberty is always poorly defined.
The 1807 Draped Bust Half Cent is Uknown in RB or RD
Despite the existence of several Mint State examples, the 1807 Draped Bust Half Cent is unknown in Mint State Red or Red Brown.
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