U.S. Draped Bust Half Dollars

About Draped Bust Half Dollars

Bust half dollars, referring to all early half dollars made between 1794 and 1839, include various design types ranging from the Flowing Hair type, include the Draped Bust type, and wrap up with the Capped Bust design. Robert Scot is credited as the engraver for the Flowing Hair and Draped Bust types, while Gilbert Stuart is noted as the designer for the latter. John Reich designed the Capped Bust type.

The Draped Bust motif ran from 1796 through 1807 and as a type is more widely available than the Flowing Hair halves, but all varieties of the 1796 and 1797 halves are exceedingly rare, and combined over both years only 3,918 minted, and only a few hundred examples -- mostly circulated -- remain today.