1853 1/2C BN Braided Hair Half Cent

Ron Guth

The 1853 Half Cent has the second highest mintage of the Braided Hair type, but that is a relative term since every date in this type boasts a low mintage.  By way of comparison, the mintage of the 1853 Half Cent is almost a fourth of the mintage of the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent (a far more valuable coin), making this an excellent value for the type collector.  Circulated examples are fairly easy to find; even Mint State examples can be located with relative ease.  The trouble is finding an example with Full Red color...they simply do not exist.  Even Red-Brown examples are scarce.  The finest 1853 Half Cents cerfified by PCGS as of February 2011 are a pair of MS-66BNs.