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How long did Flowing Hair coins stay in circulation?
ahopewell55
Posts: 276 ✭✭
About what time in the nineteenth century were Flowing Hair coins deemed collectible in and of themselves? Were they circulating around the time of the Civil War? Or later? It seems that a lot of the early Bust coinage appears more worn than the Flowing Hair types. Does this indicate that the FHs were pulled from circulation at an early period in our history?
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<< <i>About what time in the nineteenth century were Flowing Hair coins deemed collectible in and of themselves? Were they circulating around the time of the Civil War? Or later? It seems that a lot of the early Bust coinage appears more worn than the Flowing Hair types. Does this indicate that the FHs were pulled from circulation at an early period in our history? >>
I have always wondered about this as well
Google the Economite Hoard, and check the date distribution.
The half dollars and half dimes may have circulated a bit more, but the lack of protective rims and sometimes less than perfect strikes probably limited their useful lives.
For modern silver coins I think that rule of thumb was a 20 year useful life before they were taken in by the mint and melted. For the older coins, I'll bet it was a lot less. Still as it was during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when I came into my numismatic consciousness, I'm sure than an occasional "old coin" showed up in circulation in the 1840s and early '50s, but once the coin collecting bug bit beginning in 1857, I'm sure they started to disappear. And given the hoarding of silver and gold that marked the Civil War, I image that was the end of them.
<< <i>That's a darned good question. I have no idea.
Google the Economite Hoard, and check the date distribution. >>
the Economite Hoard
<< <i>Wait for ColonelJessup to join in as he might have still received them on his newspaper route
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
In the half dollars, there were reportedly 150 1794, 650 1795, 2 1796, 1 1797, about 5,000 1801-1807, 100 1815, and 111,356 common piecces 1808-1836. The individual numbers are suspiciously round, and I do not trust their precision.
In the dollars, there was 1 1794, 800 1795 (no breakdown by type), and roughly 3,000 1796-1803.
Total face value of the hoard, $75,000.
TD
EC
<< <i>Keep in mind the various weight reductions after 1840, up to c. 1850ish. I've not checked the w/arrows pieces, et al. Apparently many coins were pulled from circulation and melted, as bullion was more valuable than face.
EC >>
That is true for gold, which was revalued in 1834, but the net silver weights of the silver coins remained the same until 1853, when the half dime thru half dollar were lightened by about 7%.
As a result, silver coins disappeared from circulation, which is why the silver trime was introduced in 1851 and why the weight of silver coins was reduced in 1853.
Of course, this increase in the price of silver was completely undone by the discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859, which resulted in the French switching to subsidiary silver coins in the 1860s, the Germans switching from a silver standard to a gold standard in 1872 and the US increasing the weight of silver coins in 1873.
During all this, I suspect that Flowing Hair coins (quarters, dimes and half dimes) left circulation in the early 1850's, but who knows if the coins were melted. Of course, there hadn't been that many of these denominations minted to begin with.
The half dollars, of course, served primarily as bank reserves after the early 1800's. Of course, we know they (especially Bust halves) survived the various booms and busts because the coins still exist today, even though it would have been profitable to sell the coins and replace them with gold coins at several points during this period.
I suspect that inertia played a role - once the Bust halves went into the bank vaults, they stayed there.
Check out the Southern Gold Society
The French reduced the silver in their subsidiary coins in 1864 by the same 7% that the USA had done in 1853. Only the French reduced the fineness from 900 to 835. instead of reducing the weight. Perhaps the Comstock Lode was not up to speed yet. Again, like the US, the largest silver coin remained full weight and purity. The US 1873 adjustment was very minor and done to make the coin weights metric at 25 grams per subsidiary dollar.