Classic Head Half Cents

I have found the classic head Half Cent to be pretty difficult to obtain in anything other than VG or lower condition. Even more difficult in the absence of any cleaning or pitting. It's a pretty interesting little subset of a series. I am currently in the market for a higher end piece myself.

When it comes to large and Half Cents I do find the later younger head designs and drapped bust design to be more attractive than the classic or matron head, but they are all interesting pieces of history. Commonly used in commerce during the development and expansion of the USA.

I think the 1831 was minted originally as a proof and contemporary re-strikes exist. I wouldn't consider that part of the set unless you were a really gung-ho Half Cent collector...and with deep pockets.

I also enjoy old copper and have collected almost all of the years starting with 1800. I started at 1800 because I wanted to focus my limited budget on pre-1800 large cents rather than the Half Cents. My Half Cent collection is in the VG - VF range. I don't have an 1831 or any of the other proof only years 1840-1849. Despite the low mintage figures I find them readily affordable - more so than the low mintage large cents.

Hello, EFLargeCents! Yes, I collect Half Cents, for exactly the reasons you give. Between the low mintages, early dates, great history, and nice size, they seem to me to hit the "sweet spot" of collectibility. My target grade is AU58, limited by budget of course.

I also started with the classic head series, because I actually like the design best. Nearly all the dates are affordable, even in high grades (at least compared to the large cents). It is surprising that both 1825 and 1832 hardly bring a premium, despite mintages sub-65,000. The 1811 is another story - I had to go with G-6 on that one, and it was still a splurge.

1809 has a reputation of being a bit difficult, but I have not found it so; keep in mind that the very cool 1809/6 variety is actually the most common one. 1810 is hard to come by in decent grades. 1828 is easy and tends to have great strikes. The 1828 12-stars is super cool and fairly available. The easiest of all is 1835, right on up into high MS grades.

Experts disagree on whether 1831 was an all-proof year. I believe it was - but that's only so I don't have to buy one for my mint strike only set! ;-)

It is funny that the classic head large cents are so hard to find in decent grades, but their little half sisters are relatively abundant. I'm not complaining, though!

Of course, when I came close to finishing my classic head date set, I had to branch out into the other series. So watch out - they're habit forming!

By the way, you left 1829 (mintage 487,000) out of your table. I have found 1829 difficult to find in AU, but neither the mintage nor the certification numbers seem to support that. So I guess I'm just not looking in the right places.

I would certainly agree that high end large cents are much more difficult and expensive to find than the Half Cents, but I seem to have had more difficulty than others here in obtaining a nice classic head Half Cent. I've just found that if you administer the following requirements; grade of at least XF (preferably AU or low BU), no cleaning, no pitting, no porosity, no scratches, no corrosion, then you are also left with very few pieces and ones where the seller is asking something through the roof. I feel like the high grade coins are always missing at least one of my requirements. If I find the grade, it's most often cleaned. If not, it's darker and slightly pitted (as with many early coppers). If it passes all of that, it'll have some unfortunate rim hit or scratch somewhere because the coin is soft.

I've been in the market for a slabbed piece meeting these requirements for about 2 months now. I have found some examples, but not a single one was priced anything less than "higher than high retail". I would agree that the coins, in general, would seam to be undervalued when looking at age and mintage, but I don't like to feel like I'm ripping myself off paying above PCGS/NGC already high estimates for such a coin.

That is because the classic head cents ended in 1814, the bulk of the classic head Half Cents didn't start until some 14 years later. (After all the three early classic head Half Cents, 09, 10, and 11, are hard to find in decent grade too. And then when the later ones were struck they were no longer a popular circulating coin so they didn't circulate much and many survived in decent condition. This lack of circulation also explains my the low mintage later coins are so much cheaper than the 1811, and why they are not more expensive than the high mintage dates, plenty survived to satisfy demand. if there are enough "low mintage" coins around that every one who wants one can get it fairly easily, the price doesn't go up.