The half dime was a silver coin, valued at five cents, formerly minted in the United States. General Name, Symbol, Number silver, Ag, 47 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 5, d Appearance lustrous white metal Atomic mass 107. ... A coin is usually a piece of hard material, generally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is issued by a government to be used as a form of money. ... Look up centi- in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For the numerical prefix centi- see Wiktionary. ... A mint is a facility which manufactures coins for currency. ...

The denomination was one of the original coins first authorized in 1792, and production began the following year. These coins were much smaller than dimes, in diameter and thickness, appearing to be "half dimes". In the 1860s, powerful nickel interests successfully lobbied for the creation of new coins, which would be made of a copper-nickel alloy; production of such coins began in 1865 and were struck in two denominations — three cents and five cents (the latter debuting in 1866). The Coinage Act, passed by the U.S. Congress on April 2, 1792, established the U.S. Mint and regulated coinage of the United States. ... 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... // Events and trends Technology The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States is built in the six year period between 1863 and 1869. ... General Name, Symbol, Number nickel, Ni, 28 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 4, d Appearance lustrous, metallic Atomic mass 58. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic brown Atomic mass 63. ... Alloy is a combination, either in solution or compound, of two or more elements, which has a combination of at least one metal, and where the resultant material has metallic properties. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... The United States five-cent coin, commonly called a nickel, is a unit of currency equaling one-twentieth, or five-hundredths, of a United States dollar. ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...

The introduction of the copper-nickel five-cent pieces rendered the silver coins of the same denomination redundant, and they were discontinued in 1873. General Name, Symbol, Number silver, Ag, 47 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 5, d Appearance lustrous white metal Atomic mass 107. ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calaber). ...

The following types of half dimes were produced by the United States Mint: Mrs. ...

• Flowing Hair Half Disme (sic) Pattern, 1792
• Flowing Hair Half Dime, 1794-1795
• Draped Bust Half Dime (Small Eagle Reverse), 1796-1797
• Draped Bust Half Dime (Heraldic Eagle Reverse), 1800-1805
• Capped Bust Half Dime, 1829-1837
• Seated Liberty Half Dime (various subtypes), 1837-1873

In 1978 a coin collector surprised the coin collecting community with an 1870-S half dime. According to mint records for 1870, no half dimes had been minted in San Francisco; yet, here was a genuine 1870-S half dime. At an auction later that same year, the 1870-S half dime sold for $425,000. Sic is a Latin word meaning thus or so, used inside brackets — (sic) or [sic] — to indicate that an unusual (or incorrect) spelling, phrase, or other preceding quoted material is intended to be read or printed exactly as shown and is not a transcription error. ...

Canada also once used silver coins of five-cent denomination; they were colloquially referred to as "fish scales," due to the fact that they were very thin (the term "half dime" never having been used in Canada), and were produced until Canada also switched to nickel five-cent pieces in 1922. Only a very small number of the silver five-cent coins were minted in the final year of production in 1921, and these coins rank among the rarest in the annals of Canadian numismatics. This article needs cleanup. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Numismatics (ancient Greek: ) is the scientific study of money and its history in all its varied forms. ...

External links

• Complete US Half Dime information by year and type. Histories, photos, grading, mintages, mints, diameters, weights, metal contents, edge designs, designers, and more.
• Half Dime Pictures