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On December 1, 1794 the first half dollars (approximately 5,300 pieces) – were minted. Another 18,000 were produced in January 1795 but these coins were produced with a die of 1794, because dies were too expensive to throw out because of the date.
Due to the high production of half dollars from the 1790s, another 30,000 pieces were struck by the end of 1801. The coin had the Heraldic Eagle, based on the Great Seal of the United States on the reverse.
One of the great mysteries of half dollars was the 150,000 that were minted in 1804 without one specimen known to exist. The coinage of 1804 was struck with dies from 1803, accounting for the confusion. In 1838, half dollar dies were sent to a branch mint for the first time. The dies were sent to New Orleans and in 1839, the New Orleans Mint struck nearly 180,000 half dollars.
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