I'm curious about the reason the 1808/7 half cent got struck. I can only make some guesses. Anyone got an actual known historical reference?
Yes, but that includes both 1808 and 1808/7. Considering the value of the 1808/7, C-2, there must be a lot fewer than the straight 1808. And I was really asking (obviously not stated well) why were they created. Slow at making the dies in time for 1808? OR The 1808 dies didn't last long enough.
The 1808 half cent is slightly scarce in VF-20 and below. It quite to very scarce in the high grades. The standard procedure for the 19th century was to punch in the first three digits of the date and then add the last one when they got ready to use it. With the 1807 over 8 half cent, someone jumped the gun and entered a "7" into the last number. Then, in keeping with the law, which was not always observed, and "8" was punched over it. There are two reverses for the 1808 over 7 half cent. One of them is rare with maybe 100 examples known in all grades. These are "Coin Facts" images. My coins are long gone. The regular 1808 half cent date was made by punching two small zeros in to make the "8." Roger Cohen commented that this showed the low regard the mint personnel had for the half cent. Oddly enough the 1807 half cent has a "7" that is larger than the rest of the digits. It was probably made for a large cent.
Thanks, @johnmilton. That's the answer I was looking for. Definitely not the one that I suspected. Anyway, I just got mine (the less expensive C-2 variety) Now I'm playing with my camera to come up with the combination of setting that will work for my camera and lighting. So far it looks like it'll take me longer than expected to come up with the answer. I'm trying to follow Goodman's book.
