1795 1/2C Plain Edge, No Pole, BN (Regular Strike)

1795 Half Cents are found in a variety of combinations: Lettered Edge vs. Plain Edge, With Pole vs. No Pole, Punctuated Date vs. Normal Date. The Lettered Edge was the normal type of the 104 grain planchet. When the weight of the Half Cent was reduced to 84 grains at the end of 1795, the planchets were too thin to accommodate the edge lettering, thus the Plain Edge was born. The Punctuated Date was created by a defect in the die that appears as a comma between the 1 and the 7 of the date. The No Pole variety was created when the engraver forgot to add the pole to the die; the With Pole (non-Punctuated Date) appears to be the same die with the Pole added later.

Here is how the major varieties break down:

Lettered Edge, With Pole Lettered Edge, Punctuated Date Plain Edge, Punctuated Date Plain Edge, No Pole

Here is how the die varieties break down:

Lettered Edge, With Pole Cohen 1

Lettered Edge, Punctuated Date Cohen 2a

Plain Edge, Punctuated Date Cohen 2b Cohen 3 Cohen 4

Plain Edge, No Pole Cohen 5a Cohen 5b Cohen 6a Cohen 6b

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