1794 US Coins: Values & Mintages

US coinage in 1794

Silver arrived in 1794 with the first Flowing Hair dollars, half dollars and half dimes. Fewer than 2,000 dollars were delivered that year because the Mint's press was too small for coins of that size.

New this year: the Flowing Hair Half Dollar and the Flowing Hair Half Dime.

The Mint in the 1790s

The Coinage Act of April 2, 1792 created the United States Mint and set the dollar as the basic unit of money. The Mint was built in Philadelphia, then the nation's capital, on Seventh Street. David Rittenhouse, the astronomer and scientist, was its first director and Henry Voigt served as chief coiner. Robert Scot became the first engraver in 1793 and cut the dies for most designs of the decade.

Coining was slow and hard work. Presses were turned by hand and silver and gold were coined only when depositors brought in bullion or foreign coins to be converted. Copper was always short; the Mint bought scrap and sheet copper wherever it could and from 1797 relied on planchets shipped from Matthew Boulton's works in Birmingham, England. Yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphia closed the Mint for weeks at a time in the late 1790s, which is one reason some dates of the decade are so scarce.

How many coins were made in 1794

Counting the circulation issues on this page, US mints struck 949,741 coins dated 1794 across 3 issues. That is 759% more than in 1793 (110,512). In 1795 the figure fell to 916,849.

Every circulation coin on this page came from Philadelphia.

Those coins held about 9,375 troy ounces of pure silver.

1794 coins by denomination

Cents: 918,521 struck in 1 circulation issue of the Liberty Cap Large Cent, up 731% on 1793.

Half Dollars: 23,464 struck in 1 circulation issue of the Flowing Hair Half Dollar.

Odd Denominations: 7,756 struck in 1 circulation issue of the Flowing Hair Half Dime.

Every 1794 circulation issue at a glance

• 1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime: 7,756 struck.
• 1794 Flowing Hair Half Dollar: 23,464 struck.
• 1794 Liberty Cap Large Cent: 918,521 struck, the highest mintage of the series, up from 11,056 in 1793.

Liberty Cap Large Cent: Thick planchets and the 1794 die bonanza

Joseph Wright engraved the first Liberty Cap dies in the late summer of 1793. Only 11,056 cents of that design were coined before the year ended, making the 1793 Liberty Cap the scarcest cent of its date. Wright died of yellow fever that autumn, so the 1794 dies were cut by Robert Scot and his helpers. These coins were struck on heavy 208 grain planchets with the edge lettered ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR.

Output jumped to 918,521 in 1794. The Mint used dozens of die pairs to get there. Collectors still sort 1794 cents by portrait style (Head of 1793, Head of 1794 and Head of 1795) and chase oddities such as the No Fraction Bar reverse and the Starred Reverse, which has 94 tiny stars hidden in the border. A 1793 Liberty Cap is a true rarity in any grade, while 1794 survivors are more available but usually worn, dark and rough.

See every Liberty Cap Large Cent →

Flowing Hair Half Dollar: The first half dollars of 1794 and 1795

The Mint struck its first half dollars in late 1794, a run of 23,464 from Robert Scot's Flowing Hair design. Liberty faces right with loose hair while the reverse shows a small eagle inside a wreath. The value appears only on the lettered edge, which reads FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR. The 1794 is scarce and nearly all survivors are well worn.

Output rose to 299,680 in 1795, so that date is the one most collectors own. Many die pairs were used and specialists collect them by die variety. The 1795 includes a recut date and a variety with three leaves under each wing of the eagle instead of two. Strikes are often weak at the center. Many coins show adjustment marks from filing heavy planchets before striking.

The first half dollars were struck from silver brought in by depositors, much of it in the form of foreign coins. Each planchet was weighed and filed by hand if it was too heavy, so many coins show adjustment marks, parallel file lines made at the Mint. The 1795 coins include varieties with two leaves or three leaves under each wing of the eagle. Specialists identify the die pairs by Overton numbers.

See every Flowing Hair Half Dollar →

Flowing Hair Half Dime: The first half dimes

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.

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