Was The 1804 Half Cent A Special Issue For Louisiana?

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

Author	Replies: 3 / Views: 1,218
Jamesmblair New Member United Kingdom 33 Posts	Posted 03/01/2012 3:30 pm I am always interested in the historical background behind any coin. What I would like to know is this: was the large mintage figure of 1.05 million for the 1804 Half Cent due to the need to supply US coinage to the territories acquired under the Louisiana Purchase? Any help or comments would be much appreciated. Report this Post to the Staff

philadelphian Pillar of the Community United States 3253 Posts	Posted 03/01/2012 8:01 pm The draped bust Half Cent was only first minted in 1800, while the other draped bust denominations had been in production for up to five years already. I believe the low mintages prior to 1804 were the result of a low supply of planchets, not a lack of demand. Good for you on being inquisitive about the history of coins; I think thats the best part! Report this Post to the Staff
Conder101 Bedrock of the Community United States 17884 Posts	Posted 03/02/2012 09:08 am Not likely. At the time the territory was very sparsely settled, mostly by Indians and no real stores. not much need for Half Cents out there. The largest population area was in the New Orleans area. They probably had plenty of coins, but they probably could have used some Half Cents, buy probably not that many. It's a good question though, why the sudden one year increase? Alack of planchets in the other years might be possible, buy why? Boulton would have supplied us with as many planchets as we wanted. Report this Post to the Staff
philadelphian Pillar of the Community United States 3253 Posts	Posted 03/02/2012 4:43 pm Certainly, Boulton and Watt of Birmingham, England could provide large quantities of quality planchets, but that's if we were willing to pay for quality. The Mint was also getting copper planchets from other purveyors for a while, and finding them warped and impure. They probably did settle on Boulton as the steady supplier well before 1804, though. The other issue with Boulton, though, was that they really wanted us to buy finished coins from them (and get rid of this pesky Philadelphia Mint). Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 3 / Views: 1,218

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

All Forums Category: US Coins and Currency Forums Forum: US Classic and Colonial Coins

Silver Gold Bull US is the United States leading bullion dealer. We deliver gold coins, gold bars, silver coins, silver bars and precious metals to your door. Order today!

The First Dollar, your premier source for bullion and rare coins. See our bullion list on the site and the coin inventory on ebay.

View Last 100 New Topics

View Last 100 Active Topics

Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

Coin Community Forum

It took 0.22 seconds to rattle this change.