1792 Half Disme

Image by Professional Coin Grading Service, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

The first U.S. coinage struck under the Mint Act of 1792 — about 1,500 struck in July 1792 before the Philadelphia Mint even opened (Wikipedia; ANA).

History

Widely (though not universally) considered the first United States coinage struck under the authority of the Coinage Act of April 2, 1792 (Wikipedia, accessed 2026-09-16).
The half dismes were struck in or around July 1792 in the private workshop of Philadelphia sawmaker John Harper at 6th and Cherry Streets — under the auspices of official Mint personnel, since the Mint’s buildings and machinery were not yet ready. Mint Director David Rittenhouse oversaw the work; Adam Eckfeldt built the screw press and is believed to have made the dies and operated the press to strike the pieces (Wikipedia; Wikipedia — Adam Eckfeldt; Heritage Auctions, accessed 2026-09-16).
Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson’s memorandum book records that he provided ’75 (Mexican) Silver Dollars’ on July 11, 1792 and received the first 1,500 half dismes on July 13; he then spent the coins on his trip home to Monticello (Wikipedia; Numismatic News, accessed 2026-09-16).
The famous Washington anecdotes — that the portrait depicts Martha Washington and that the silver came from the Washington household’s melted silverware — have ‘no solid evidence’ behind them; folklore held both, but Jefferson’s memorandum book documents the actual silver source (Wikipedia; Heritage Auctions, accessed 2026-09-16).
President Washington did take a direct interest: he discussed the coins in his November 6, 1792 address to Congress, calling it ‘a small beginning in the coinage of half dismes’ (Heritage Auctions; Wikipedia, accessed 2026-09-16).
The die maker is not definitively recorded: Adam Eckfeldt is the traditional attribution (Wikipedia); the ANA credits designers Robert Birch and Joseph Wright with Jacob Perkins likely producing the dies; Numismatic News notes Birch, Henry Voigt, and Eckfeldt have all been proposed (ANA; Numismatic News, accessed 2026-09-16).
Total production is believed at 2,000–3,500 (researchers cite a possible second striking in October 1792); roughly 250–400 survive, and the issue is ranked #12 in Garrett & Guth’s 100 Greatest U.S. Coins (Wikipedia; Heritage Auctions; CoinNews, accessed 2026-09-16).

Key dates and varieties

1792 — single-year issue; the only circulating half disme (Wikipedia)
Judd-7 — catalog number for the silver issue; a unique copper pattern (Judd-8) is also known (Wikipedia; Numista)

Specifications

composition
designers
diameter
edge
mint
weight

Collector notes

KEY DIAGNOSTIC MARKERS: research by Augsburger, Orosz, and Smith confirmed all known pieces were struck from the same obverse die (CoinWorld). Obverse: bust of Liberty left with ‘LIB. PAR. OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY’ (a motto attributed to Benjamin Franklin) and date 1792; reverse: eagle in flight with ‘HALF DISME’ and a star, legend ‘UNI. STATES OF AMERICA’ (Numismatic News; Wikipedia).
Edge is reeded — obliquely reeded on examined specimens (Greysheet; Heritage Auctions).
Value factors: most survivors show circulation wear or damage, so condition is everything — a PCGS MS67 specimen strike from the Starr Collection sold for $1,322,500 in 2006 and an NGC MS68 for $1,500,000 by private treaty in 2007 (Wikipedia).
The copper Judd-8 pattern is unique; silver Judd-7 examples are cataloged as patterns (R.4) but are collected as the first federal issue (Heritage Auctions; Greysheet).