ONLY QUARTERS AND HALF EAGLES COINED IN 1815

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V19 2016 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 36, September 4, 2016, Article 16

Bill Eckberg submitted these notes on the U.S. coinage of 1815. -Editor

Some of the information in the lot description of the 1815/2 half dollar quoted in last week's E-Sylum is outdated. Only half eagles and quarters were coined in 1815. [Emphasis mine - Editor] All of the 1815-dated halves and 20,003 of the quarters were coined in the first 10 days of 1816. Right after that a fire destroyed the Mint’s rolling mills, and no more silver or gold could be coined until they were replaced in 1817. All of the silver coins minted in 1816 were dated 1815.

The mistaken belief that cents were coined in 1815 apparently originates in a report by Director Patterson that probably amounts to bureaucratic butt-covering but has been repeated by a number of expert authors over the years. The Treasurer’s records clearly show that no cents were coined between October of 1814 and January of 1816. Cent coinage presumably began during the week of January 15 (Mint records are not clear on the exact date), if we give the Mint personnel a few days to clean up after the fire. Interestingly, the cents coined in January and February of 1816 were all dated 1814.

Information supporting this can be found in two articles. The first was in Coin World, and the second in Penny-Wise, both published in 2015. If you read carefully, you will notice that the CW article repeats the old, common error that cents were struck in 1815. After it was published, I recognized the error in that thinking.

All of which shows why it is far more important to look at and trust actual data rather than received knowledge. Evidence-Based Research is far superior to Eminence-Based Research.

Thanks for setting this straight. In my haste to add some more information about the 1815/2 half dollars, I chose a 2009 auction lot description to quote. I guess I should have left well enough alone. That's one drawback to having so much numismatic information available through the Internet and older print publications - some of the information is obsolete, but how is one to know that? Perhaps over time, web site users and curators could add tags and disclaimers, but that's a never-ending process. The documents are a source for numismatic researchers, not a substitute for them. The information is merely a resource, and the need for critical thinking never changes. -Editor