Most half cents are worth $40 to $75 in worn condition. The half cent was the smallest denomination the United States ever made.
Half cents were struck in pure copper from 1793 to 1857, in four designs, and the Mint never made many of them — most years saw fewer than 600,000 coins, and some years saw none at all. That built-in scarcity is why even a common, honestly worn half cent starts near $40 while a modern coin of the same face value is worth its face.
Half Cent Values by Type and Date
| Coin | Mintage | Approximate value |
|---|---|---|
| Braided Hair, common dates (1849–1857) | About 130,000–545,000 per year | $40–$75 worn, and about $150–$300 in mint state. The most available half cents, and the usual starting point for a type set. |
| Classic Head (1809–1836) | About 63,000–1,150,000 per year | $45–$90 worn for common dates. The 1811, at 63,140 struck, runs about $150–$300 worn. |
| Draped Bust (1800–1808) | About 52,000–1,060,000 per year | $65–$125 worn for common dates — the design is popular and early copper survives in low grades more often than high. |
| Liberty Cap, later dates (1794–1797) | About 64,000–120,000 per year | About $250–$600 worn. Every Liberty Cap half cent is scarce, and problem-free examples are scarcer. |
| 1793 (first year of issue) | 63,222 | About $1,500 and up worn, rising steeply with condition. The first half cent and the first year of the denomination — the coin most type collectors save for last. |
| 1796 | 1,390 business strikes | Five figures in any grade. One of the lowest mintages of any regular-issue U.S. coin, and rarely offered at all. |
Values are approximate retail ranges checked on November 7, 2026. Early copper is condition-sensitive in a way silver is not: a smooth, dark, problem-free coin outsells a higher-grade coin with corrosion, pitting, or cleaning, sometimes by a wide margin.
What a Half Cent Is
The half cent was worth half of a large cent, and for its first years it was not a small coin: the 1793 issue weighs 13.48 grams of pure copper, reduced in 1795 to 10.89 grams, the weight that stayed standard until the end. Four designs carried the denomination — Liberty Cap (1793–1797), Draped Bust (1800–1808), Classic Head (1809–1836), and Braided Hair (1840–1857). Production was irregular: no half cents were struck in several stretches, including 1812–1824, because the planchets were bought ready-made and supply ran in fits. Its big sibling gets the full treatment in our large cent value guide.
Why Melt Value Does Not Matter Here
A half cent is pure copper, but the metal is worth only a few cents — under 25 cents even for the heavy first-year issue at recent copper prices (weight in grams × the copper price per gram gives the exact figure on any given day). Unlike the silver and gold coins in this series of guides, a half cent’s value is entirely collector value: date, design, grade, and surfaces. That is also why a damaged half cent falls so far — there is no melt floor holding it up, the way there is for the Flying Eagle cent that replaced the old copper coinage a generation later.
What Moves a Half Cent’s Value
Date first. The mintage spread inside this series is enormous — 1,390 coins for 1796 against more than a million for a few Classic Head years — so the date sets the price tier before grade is even discussed. Surfaces second. Early copper collectors pay for smooth, even, chocolate-brown surfaces and discount corrosion, porosity, and cleaning hard. Grade third. Half cents circulated heavily and wore fast; a Braided Hair coin with full LIBERTY lettering on the headband is a genuinely better coin than one where the word has worn away. Originality always. Never clean an early copper coin — on this series, cleaning does more damage to value than the wear it was meant to hide. The half cent’s fellow odd denomination, the two cent piece, followed it into retirement within a decade.
Why the Half Cent Ended
Rising copper prices squeezed the coin from both sides: by the 1850s the metal and striking costs left no margin, and merchants had never loved a coin worth half a cent. The Coinage Act of 1857 ended the half cent and the large cent together and replaced them with the small cent. No half-cent denomination has been struck since, which makes 1793–1857 a closed, completable series — one reason demand for problem-free examples stays steady.
Shop Copper
Modern copper carries the same metal without the two-century premium: the 1 oz copper round with the Buffalo design is a full troy ounce of copper in hand, and the kilo copper bar from Frontier Mint is the bulk format. Collectors of the early series often keep a modern copper piece beside the type set to show how far the denomination’s metal goes today.
Half Cent FAQ
How much is a half cent worth?
Most half cents are worth $40 to $75 in worn condition. Early designs run higher — Draped Bust coins about $65–$125 worn, Liberty Cap coins about $250–$600 — and the first-year 1793 starts near $1,500.
What is the rarest half cent?
The 1796 is the rarest regular issue, with 1,390 business strikes, and it brings five figures in any grade. The 1793 first year (63,222 struck) and the 1811 (63,140 struck) are the next tier of scarcity most collectors meet.
What is a half cent made of?
A half cent is pure copper. The first issues of 1793 weigh 13.48 grams; from 1795 the standard weight was 10.89 grams, which held until the series ended in 1857.
When were half cents made?
Half cents were struck from 1793 to 1857, with gaps — no coins were made in several stretches, including 1812–1824. The Coinage Act of 1857 ended the denomination for good.
Is a half cent worth more than its copper?
Yes, by a wide margin. The copper in a half cent melts for a few cents at most, while even a common worn coin is worth $40 to $75 to collectors — the value is the date and the surfaces, not the metal.
Values are approximate and checked on November 7, 2026. Educational content only — not financial advice.