Historedia
Episode 2 of 2

First Minting of the Half Cent

When
1793
Where
United States Mint, Philadelphia
Part of
First Year of Regular Production at the United States Mint

The half cent, the smallest denomination of US coin ever minted, was first minted in 1793 following its authorization by the Coinage Act of 1792.

The half cent was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792 and was first minted in 1793. It was the smallest denomination of United States coin ever minted, slightly smaller than a modern U.S. quarter with a diameter of 22 mm in 1793. The 1793 issue bore the Liberty Cap design facing left, designed and engraved by Henry Voigt, with the edge lettered TWO HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR.

Sources

  1. Half cent Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-01

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.