FrostbyteCoins
Half Dime · $0.05
1792 Pattern & Experimental Coins
Key Features
- Judd-8, struck in copper - Unique: the only copper 1792 half disme known - 1878 Mickley sale: $9 - 2015 Heritage sale (Partrick Collection): $824,850
Intriguing History
The same dies used for the 1792 silver half disme were also tried on copper, and only one copper half disme is known. It first showed up at auction in 1878, in the Joseph J. Mickley collection, and sold for nine dollars. In January 2015 it sold at Heritage for $824,850. As the only copper striking of America's first coin design, it is a trial piece for the nation's very first coinage.