The lack of an adequate supply of planchets for the coinage of half cents had a large influence on the mintages of the Draped Bust Half Cent from 1800 to 1808.
No half cents were minted in 1801, as the U.S. Mint was busy turning out large quantities of cents. Those struck in 1802 numbered slightly more than 20,000 pieces, but the mintage increased to 92,000 half cents in 1803.
In 1804 the number of coins produced increased dramatically to an 1,055,312 pieces struck for circulation. This huge number has yielded a large number of die varieties and die states, and a few rare varieties exist among the 1804 half cents. In fact, a collector of half cents could build a specialized collection of 1804 varieties and die states of at least 80 different coins, truly the project of a lifetime.
In 1805, 814,464 half cents would be struck, with 1806 to 1808 having fairly steady mintages of approximately 400,000 pieces each year.
| Year of Issue | Mintage |
|---|---|
| 1800 | 202,908 |
| 1802 | 20,266 |
| 1803 | 92,000 |
| 1804 | 1,055,312 |
| 1805 | 814,464 |
| 1806 | 356,000 |
| 1807 | 476,000 |
| 1808 | 400,000 |