Diameter: 23.00 mm
Mintage/Proof: 56500 / 110
Weight: 5.44 grams
Metal: Copper
Value by Condition
| Grade | Value |
|---|---|
| Worst | $20 |
| Heavy Circ | $45 |
| Average | $75 |
| Light Circ | $100 |
| Uncirc | $200 |
Stack’s Bowers Auction Record — Sold For: $5,290.00 (record)
History, Information, and Value of 1855 Braided Hair Half Cent
Value of 1855 C-1 Braided Hair Half Cent
W-1 | C-1 (Proof, SO-1), B-1 | Breen dies: 1-A. | Proofs of the date were made for inclusion in sets and for individual purchase; perhaps 40 to 60 pieces exist today. Circulation strike of the 1855 Braided Hair Half Cents, W-1 in Mint State exist in somewhat sizable numbers due to two hoards of the date that hit the numismatic marketplace in two different centuries. The Judge Putnam Hoard contained dozens of mint red examples and came to light in 1885 when his coin collection was sold. Putnam served on the Assay Commission off and on for years and may have obtained the half cents in this manner. In the 1940s Charles French purchased a bag of 500 bright red 1855 half cents but he dispersed them slowly so as not to flood the marketplace. It is believed the last of the French Hoard coins were sold in the early 1960s.
The obverse text of the Braided Hair Half Cent reads “Liberty, 1855.” The reverse of the coins read “United States of America, Half Cent.”