Values
A Draped Bust half dollar is the fifty-cent coin between Flowing Hair and Capped Bust. This page is a series reference, not a price list.
The mintage chart leaves G, VF, and MS-63 blank. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not cover this piece. Do not paste an auction hammer into the grade columns.
If you have one and want to sell it, start with how to sell a coin collection. The Flowing Hair half is 1794–1795. The lettered-edge Capped Bust half begins in 1807 with a different portrait.
Key Dates
1796 is the small-eagle year with a printed count. 1797 is the other small-eagle year, and the article does not know the count. Heraldic-eagle halves with printed counts are 1801, 1802, 1803, 1805, 1806, and 1807.
1804 is a comment that none were struck. 15-star and 16-star 1796 coins are varieties inside that year’s row.
Errors
Unknown turned into a guess. 1797 stays off the chart.
Zero turned into a row. 1804 stays off the chart.
1807 cap. A capped bust dated 1807 is the other series. Do not add the two 1807 totals together.
Variety list as mintage. Knobbed 6, pointed 6, and the stem-through-claw note on 1806 are variety comments. One circulation cell covers the year.
Compare the coin to the NGC Coin Explorer. We do not host their plates.
Varieties
Small eagle, then heraldic eagle. Fifteen or sixteen stars on 1796 are a die variety, not a second denomination. This page’s 1807 is the heraldic draped bust, not the capped bust of the same year.
- Small eagle, 1796–1797The first reverse. The plate on this page is an 1806 heraldic coin, not this eagle.
- 1796 15 stars and 16 starsThe mintage article this page uses notes both star counts under 1796. Leave both under one year. 1797 stays off until a source prints a count.
- Heraldic eagle, from 1801The shield eagle runs from 1801 to 1807. 1804 was not struck on the list this page uses.
Names follow PCGS CoinFacts and NGC, the same publishers this site already cites. This is a name list, not a price list and not a count.
Mintage
Circulation counts from the half-dollar mintage-figures article. Small eagle, then heraldic eagle.
| Year | Mint | Mintage | G | VF | MS-63 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1796 | P | 3,918 Small eagle. 1797 is unknown in the source and stays off. | — | — | — |
| 1801 | P | 30,289 Heraldic eagle. 1804 was not struck and stays off. | — | — | — |
| 1802 | P | 29,890 Heraldic eagle. 1804 was not struck and stays off. | — | — | — |
| 1803 | P | 188,234 Heraldic eagle. 1804 was not struck and stays off. | — | — | — |
| 1805 | P | 211,722 Heraldic eagle. 1804 was not struck and stays off. | — | — | — |
| 1806 | P | 839,576 Heraldic eagle. 1804 was not struck and stays off. | — | — | — |
| 1807 | P | 301,076 Draped bust only. The capped bust 1807 is a different series. | — | — | — |
Mintage: the note under this table names the page that printed each count. These figures are not an NGC Coin Explorer extract and they are not the 1974 Mint pamphlet.
Collector-standard year/mint presentation follows A Guide Book of United States Coins (the Red Book). These cells are Mint manufacture figures, not a Red Book net or melt.
Values: NGC US Coin Price Guide, retrieved 2026-08-21. Guide values, not offers. Not melt. NGC IDs link to the same publisher’s price-guide listing.
Key date names: NGC Coin Explorer. Bold rows are only dates that publisher named.
Rows are the years with a printed circulation count. Unknown, zero, and variety comments are not rows. The 1807 figure is the draped bust only. The grade columns are empty because this site has no NGC guide extract for this coin.
Specifications
These are mint specs, not what a dealer pays. Wear can take a little weight off. We will not invent a tolerance. The weight row is the 1792 standard for a half dollar. No catalog page used here prints a thickness.
| Specification | Figure |
|---|---|
| Diameter | Not printed |
| Thickness | Not printed |
| Weight | 208 grains standard (Coinage Act of April 2, 1792) |
| Composition | 1,485/1,664 silver, the rest copper (Coinage Act of April 2, 1792) |
| Edge | Not printed on a cited catalog page |
| Designer | Robert Scot |
No catalog page used for the Draped Bust half dollar prints a thickness. Diameter and thickness stay Not printed. The weight is the 1792 half-dollar standard. The 1807 capped bust is not this planchet row.
Grading
A Draped Bust half wears first in the drapery and on the eagle.
1807 comes in two portraits. A cap is not this coin.
Key Diagnostic Areas
| Area | What to examine | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Drapery | The cloth at the shoulder. | The drape is the type. Flowing hair is the previous half. |
| Eagle | Small eagle or heraldic eagle. | 1796 is the small eagle with a printed count. Later dates are heraldic. |
| Edge | The lettered value. | Lettered is the design. Reeded halves are later. |
| Date | The digits, and whether the year is on the chart. | 1797 is unknown and 1804 was not struck. They are not grades. |
Circulated & Mint State
These cards describe this coin, not a second copy of the P-1 through MS-70 chart. The shared numbers live on the glossary.
See graded photos. The photos that show what VF looks like live at PCGS. We do not host their plates. NGC Coin Explorer is another look if you want a second set.
What each named grade looks like on this design.
Poor
Poor
A disk you can still call a Draped Bust half dollar if you already know the type.
- The drapery and the eagle are gone.
- The date may be a shadow. Do not scrape it.
- Shine does not make this a better coin.
AG
About Good
You might read a digit. The high points on this Draped Bust half dollar are already slick.
- The drapery and the eagle are worn to a blank patch.
- If you cannot read the date without hoping, stay here.
- A 1806 is still this grade if it is this worn.
Good
Good
The date is readable. The design is still mostly an outline.
- The drapery and the eagle are flat. The type is an outline, not a portrait.
- The rim should be full enough to hold the legend.
- This is a worn coin, not a details story.
VG
Very Good
The date is clear. A little life returns away from the high points.
- Some leftover detail sits away from the drapery and the eagle.
- The high points are still tired.
- Do not clean the date to “see it better.”
Fine
Fine
You can follow the design. The high points are outlined, not sharp.
- The drapery and the eagle are outlined and flat — no real sharpness yet.
- The rest of the coin can look busier than the grade.
- The date should be clear. The mint mark should be too, if there is one.
VF
Very Fine
The type is doing real work. The drapery and the eagle still decide.
- Leftover detail sits on the drapery and the eagle. The centers are still the worn spot.
- Marks do not raise the grade.
- A regular 1806 is still this grade if it is this worn.
EF
Extremely Fine
Most of the coin looks sharp. The high points tell on it.
- Light wear on the drapery and the eagle.
- The rest of the coin can look better than the grade. Trust the high points.
- The date should be sharp.
AU
About Uncirculated
Almost no wear — and “almost” lives on the same high points.
- A trace of rub on the drapery and the eagle.
- Luster may still sit in the fields. Rub on those high points is still rub.
- A bright coin with a slick high point is still slick.
Basal MS
Mint State
No wear. The fight is marks and luster, not how white the coin looks.
- No rub on the drapery and the eagle.
- Marks and luster decide how this mint-state coin lives.
- A bright chewed-up coin is still chewed-up.
Choice
Choice Mint State
Still no wear. Cleaner fields than basal mint state.
- Same no-wear rule on the drapery and the eagle.
- Fewer marks in the fields. Luster is more intact.
- White is not a grade.
Gem
Gem Mint State
A clean Draped Bust half dollar for this type. Still mint state, still not a story.
- No wear on the drapery and the eagle.
- Marks and luster, not a romance about a date or a white field.
- A slab is an opinion in plastic. The glossary has the numbers.
This page does not invent a PR price grid. The proof numbers live on the glossary.
Copper color designations do not apply to this silver coin. See the Lincoln Wheat cent and the glossary.
Overview
The Draped Bust half dollar runs from 1796 to 1807. The first reverse is a small eagle. From 1801 the eagle is heraldic. Liberty is draped, and the edge is lettered. The type ends in the same year the capped bust begins, which is why 1807 has to be read twice.
The photograph is an 1806 Draped Bust half dollar with the heraldic eagle, from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The 1796–1797 small eagle is the other reverse. Do not grade every half as if it were that plate.
This page is a series article, not a shop listing.
History
The mintage article splits this half into a small-eagle section and a heraldic-eagle section. The small-eagle section has a count for 1796, notes 15-star and 16-star varieties, and leaves 1797 unknown. The heraldic section starts at 1801, skips 1804 as unstruck, and ends at 1807. That is the chart.
The capped bust that follows is already published as the lettered-edge half of 1807–1836. Reeded-edge halves of 1836–1839 are a third page.
Design
Obverse: draped Liberty facing right. Reverse: small eagle or heraldic eagle. Edge: lettered. No mint mark.
Fifteen or sixteen stars on 1796 are a die variety, not a second denomination. The cap on a pole is how you leave this type in 1807.
People Also Ask
Why is 1797 not a row?
The mintage article prints the 1797 cell as unknown. An unknown cell is not a number.
Why is 1804 not a row?
The article says none were struck and prints a zero. A year with no coinage is not given a zero row on this chart.
Is the 1807 draped bust the same as the 1807 capped bust?
No. This page’s 1807 is the heraldic-eagle draped bust. The lettered-edge Capped Bust half also has an 1807, and that count stays on the other page.
How much is a Draped Bust half dollar worth?
This page does not print guide prices. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not include this coin. An auction result is not a guide cell.
Collector Considerations
Count the stars if you want the 1796 variety, and still leave both under one year. Leave 1797 and 1804 out until a source prints a real count for a coin that was struck.
An 1807 with a cap is the Capped Bust half. Adding the two mintages would describe a coin that was never struck.
The Draped Bust dollar shares the portrait and does not yet have a year table.
A Final Word
The Draped Bust half page is the years with a number, and only those years. Unknown and unstruck stay in the text.
An auction story is not a mintage.