1795 1/2C Lettered Edge, BN VG8BN 认证号14933351, PCGS号1009

Ron Guth

For Half Cent collectors, the year 1795 is full of interesting varieties: heavy weight planchets, light weight planchets, Punctuated Date, No Pole, Lettered Edge, Plain Edge, struck on cut-down Large Cents and Talbot, Allum & Lee tokens, etc.

The earliest 1795 Half Cents were struck on 104 grain planchets with a lettered edge.  Because of rising costs of copper, the weight was reduced to 84 grains and subsequent coins bore a plain edge.

Two die varieties of 1795 Half Cents have Lettered Edges, but only the Cohen 1 qualifies for the type:

Cohen 1 - a capital letter I was used for the 1 of the date.

Cohen 2 - a comma-like mark appears between the 1 and the 7 of the date, earning this variety the nickname "Punctuated Date" (under which type it appears).

Sources and/or recommended reading:
"American Half Cents (Second Edition)" by Roger S. Cohen, Jr.