Values
A Flowing Hair half dime is a two-year silver type. 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 Draped Bust half dime is the next silver five-cent type. A nickel is not this coin.
Key Dates
1794 is the first year. 1795 is the second, and the last of this hair. There is no third date to hunt.
Both years are Philadelphia coins. There is no mint mark to find.
Errors
No denomination. A missing HALF DIME legend is the design. It is not a die error.
1792 half disme. The pattern of 1792 is not a row here. This chart starts when regular coinage of the type starts.
Adjusted planchets. File marks from weight adjustment are a Mint practice on early silver. They are not cleaning you should repeat.
Compare the coin to the NGC Coin Explorer. That category also holds later early half dimes. We do not host their plates.
Varieties
1794 and 1795 are the series. The reverse is a small eagle. Die marriages exist. This page does not list every one, and it does not invent a third date.
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
Two years, both published as single Philadelphia totals in the Half dime article.
| Year | Mint | Mintage | G | VF | MS-63 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1794 | P | 7,765 Philadelphia. Both years the Half dime article prints for this hair. | — | — | — |
| 1795 | P | 78,660 Philadelphia. Both years the Half dime article prints for this hair. | — | — | — |
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.
The chart has one row per year. It does not split dies. 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 disme. No catalog page used here prints a thickness.
| Specification | Figure |
|---|---|
| Diameter | Not printed |
| Thickness | Not printed |
| Weight | 20.8 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 Flowing Hair half dime prints a thickness. Diameter and thickness stay Not printed. The weight is the 1792 half-disme standard. This is not a nickel.
Grading
A Flowing Hair half dime wears first in the loose hair and on the small eagle.
There is no denomination. Do not grade it as if HALF DIME should be there.
Key Diagnostic Areas
| Area | What to examine | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Loose hair | The hair over the forehead. | That hair is the high point. A cap is a different coin. |
| Small eagle | The eagle in the wreath. | This reverse is the small eagle only. A heraldic eagle is the next half dime. |
| The blank reverse legend | Where a denomination would be. | Empty space is the design. It is not a weak strike of a legend. |
| Date | 1794 or 1795. | Two years only. A 1796 date is draped bust. |
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 Flowing Hair half dime if you already know the type.
- The hair and the small 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 Flowing Hair half dime are already slick.
- The hair and the small eagle are worn to a blank patch.
- If you cannot read the date without hoping, stay here.
- A 1794 is still this grade if it is this worn.
Good
Good
The date is readable. The design is still mostly an outline.
- The hair and the small 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 hair and the small 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 hair and the small 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 hair and the small eagle still decide.
- Leftover detail sits on the hair and the small eagle. The centers are still the worn spot.
- Marks do not raise the grade.
- A regular 1794 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 hair and the small 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 hair and the small 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 hair and the small 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 hair and the small eagle.
- Fewer marks in the fields. Luster is more intact.
- White is not a grade.
Gem
Gem Mint State
A clean Flowing Hair half dime for this type. Still mint state, still not a story.
- No wear on the hair and the small 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.
Proofs are not the story of this two-year type. 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 Flowing Hair half dime is the 1794–1795 silver five-cent coin. Robert Scot’s Liberty has loose hair and no cap. The reverse is a small eagle. The coin does not name its value.
The photograph is a 1794 Flowing Hair half dime from the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
This page is a series article, not a shop listing.
History
The Coinage Act of 1792 authorized a half disme. Regular strikes of this design came in 1794 and 1795, after the Mint had already made copper. The Half dime article gives a production figure for each of those two years and stops there. That is why the chart is short on purpose, not because a year was dropped.
Draped Bust half dimes begin in 1796. They are the next page. Seated Liberty half dimes begin in 1837 and are not this hair.
Design
Obverse: Liberty facing right, hair flowing, no pole and no cap. Reverse: a small eagle in a wreath. There is no denomination and no mint mark.
Look at the hair over the forehead. That is the high point. Stars around the portrait are part of the type. A weak star is strike or wear, not a missing-star error unless the star was never in the die.
People Also Ask
Why are there only two rows?
The Half dime article prints a count for 1794 and a count for 1795. Those are the only year figures on that page, and they cover the whole type.
Is a half dime a nickel?
No. This is a silver five-cent piece. Shield, Liberty Head, Buffalo, and Jefferson nickels are later coins in a different metal.
Does the coin say HALF DIME?
This type does not carry a denomination. The size and the portrait are how you know it. Do not add a legend that is not there.
How much is a Flowing Hair half dime 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
Two dates, one mint. A coin dated 1796 is the next type. A copper-nickel five-cent piece is a nickel, and it belongs on a nickel page.
Do not split the rows into die varieties. The article did not. When a cited variety table exists, it can be added. A remembered variety count does not.
The Capped Bust half dime is a later, heavier production. Read that page if the cap is on the pole.
A Final Word
The Flowing Hair half dime page is two years and two rows. The hair is the type.
An auction story is not a mintage.