1875 Half Dime Patterns

About This Coin

Struck at the Philadelphia Mint within the Metric & Stella Patterns series, these 1875 half dime pieces represent a fascinating paradox: pattern coins exploring designs for a denomination already abolished. The Coinage Act of 1873 had discontinued the half dime, yet the Metric & Stella program (1874-1879) produced experimental pieces in this denomination as part of its comprehensive metric-compatible coinage evaluation. The obverse features Liberty with flowing hair or coiled hair designs by Charles Barber and George T. Morgan respectively — the same artistic competition producing the famous $4 Stella gold patterns. These patterns document the theoretical completeness of the metric investigation, evaluating even discontinued denominations to determine whether metric standards might justify their revival. They connect to the broader international movement of the 1870s, when the Latin Monetary Union's standardization prompted American policymakers to explore compatible coinage facilitating transatlantic commerce. The half dime's post-abolition appearance in the pattern series underscores the intellectual ambition of the metric coinage proposal.