1795 Flowing Hair Half Dime
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 78,660 made
- Mintage
- 78,660 (approx.)
- Metal
- 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper
- Weight
- 1.35 g
- Diameter
- 16.5 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1795 Flowing Hair Half Dime worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1795 sells well above face value. The flip side is that counterfeits and altered dates are common, so authentication matters.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1795 Flowing Hair Half Dime rare?
- 78,660 were made, which is a small number.
- Is the 1795 Flowing Hair Half Dime silver?
- Yes. It's 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper and holds 0.0387 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1795 Flowing Hair Half Dime?
- No mint mark. Struck in Philadelphia.
- How many 1795 Flowing Hair Half Dime coins were made?
- 78,660 (approximately).
What to check on your 1795
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. Check the hair over Liberty's ear and the eagle's breast. Many early half dimes are weakly struck or adjusted, so judge wear and strike separately.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more. Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1795
Philadelphia ramped up hard in 1795: 78,660 coins, about 10 times the 1794 run. It was also the last year of the series.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1795 you find is from Philadelphia.
The first half dimes (1794 to 1795)
The half dime was one of the denominations created by the Coinage Act of 1792. A small number of half dismes were made in 1792, but regular half dimes began only with the Flowing Hair design. Robert Scot's Liberty faces right with long hair falling freely down her neck. Fifteen stars surround her, eight on the left and seven on the right. The reverse has a small eagle with spread wings inside a wreath and the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. There is no denomination on the coin.
Mint records show 86,416 half dimes delivered in 1795. Of those, 7,756 are attributed to dies dated 1794 and 78,660 to dies dated 1795. The 1794 coins were struck in 1795 from dies prepared the year before. Both dates are struck in 1.35 grams of silver 0.8924 fine, about 16.5 millimeters across, with a reeded edge. All were made at Philadelphia on a screw press.
Critics did not like the portrait or the eagle and the design was replaced by the Draped Bust in 1796. For collectors, the Flowing Hair half dime is a two-year type and every example carries a strong collector premium. The 1794 is much scarcer than the 1795. Many survivors are worn and some show adjustment marks, fine lines where the planchet was filed to the correct weight before striking. Counterfeits exist, so have any example authenticated.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1795
Gold coinage began in 1795 with the first $5 half eagles and $10 eagles. Late in the year the Draped Bust portrait by Gilbert Stuart replaced the Flowing Hair design on the silver dollar.
How to recognize it
A young Liberty faces right, her long hair falling loose behind her head and down her neck with no cap or ribbon. LIBERTY arcs across the top, the date is centered below the bust and fifteen stars line the sides, eight on the left and seven on the right. The reverse shows a small eagle with spread wings standing on a rock or cloud. A wreath of two branches, crossed and tied at the bottom, circles the eagle, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the edge. There is no denomination and no mint mark. The coin is only about 16.5 millimeters across with a reeded edge, so it is easy to confuse with a worn foreign coin at first glance. The bold, unbound hair is the quickest way to tell it from the Draped Bust half dime that followed.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Flowing Hair Half Dime (1794–1795) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1795 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 78,660 (approx.) |
| Face value | 5¢ |
| Composition | 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper |
| Weight | 1.35 grams |
| Diameter | 16.5 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0387 troy oz (1.205 g) |
| Designer | Robert Scot |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.