Owner Comments:
Lyman Allen #1.02 (KM #162) - Mintage: 5,654,000
Half Centavos were not popular with the public, and production was discontinued early in 1904. They would never again be produced for general circulation and only extremely small quantities would be minted in proof for inclusion in the proof sets of 1905, 1906, and 1908. In 1908, roughly 40% of all half centavos minted would be shipped to the San Francisco mint to be re-coined into One Centavo pieces.
In addition to the 1,355 regular proof sets minted in 1904, another 10,000 uncirculated sets were ordered by the well known numismatist Farran Zerbe to be sold at the Philippine Exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in1904. Supply far exceeded demand for these uncirculated sets, and only 3,254 were sold at the exposition. The remaining 6,746 sets were shipped to the Philippines where another 500 were sold by the Treasury. The 6,246 unsold sets were ultimately broken up and released into general circulation. I don't know if the half centavos for these 10,000 sets were specially struck or just taken from the mintage intended for general circulation.
Unlike the 1903 Half Centavo, full red examples of the 1904 Half Centavo are extremely rare, As of this revision, NGC has certified only 3 as full red. Certified red-brown examples are a bit more plentiful, but the vast majority have been graded as brown. This coin is a nice RB example of one of the last Half Centavos minted for general circulation.
Date acquired: 5/03/2009 (already graded by NGC)
Rev. 1/1/2016