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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Conder101, post: 3704923, member: 66&quot;]You have to remember how the number of silver coins to be struck was determined back before 1837.&nbsp; The Mint did not have a bullion fund.&nbsp; They could not go into the market, buy silver, and then use it to struck coins.&nbsp; The ONLY time silver or gold coins would be struck would be when banks, businesses or individuals deposited silver or gold withthe mint and had it made into coins.&nbsp; And then it was the DEPOSITOR not the mint who decided what coin(s) the metal would be made into, not the Mint.&nbsp; Most depositors wanted large coins because they were easier to count and they would get their coins back sooner.&nbsp; The Mint also encouraged undecided depositors to select large coins because it meant less work and wear and tear on the equipment. (It took 20 times as much work to make a dollars worth of half dimes than it did to make a silver dollar.)&nbsp; So if no one ordered hlf dimes, no half dimes were struck.&nbsp; The mintage of the 1802 half dimes probably represented a couple merchants needing some small coins to make change.&nbsp; The 27,000 made in 1801 were probably mostly still around so the merchants didn&#039;t need to get half dimes in 1802.&nbsp; In 1803 they made 37,000 and then no half dimes at all were ordered until 1805.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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