DIE STATES OF THE 1804 COHEN-6 HALF CENT

by Bill Eckberg

The 1804 C6 Half Cent has what is probably the most interesting die state progression of any United States coin. The die states listed here refer to different stages of the deterioration of the reverse die and are attributed according to Manley. Ronald P. Manley’s 1998 The Half Cent Die State Book, 1793-1857 has supplanted the Cohen and Breen references for most specialists.

The set contains most of the major die states of this variety. However, there are many intermediate states.

In state M 1.0, the reverse is lightly cracked around the tops of the letters. In state 3.0, the crack is very heavy over MERIC. In states 4.5 and 5, a cud forms above ME and another forms above U. By state 6.0, the first cud has enlarged to cover MERIC. In state 8.0, the second cud now covers UN. In state 9.0, a new cud forms over the first A in America; by 9.2, the cud at UN has enlarged to cover the bottoms of the 20 in the denominator. In states 10.2, 10.8 and 11.0, you can see the progressive formation of a cud over the M; there is also enlargement of the second cud to cover UNI. In die state 12.0, a heavy crack has formed from the third cud to OF. This is the latest known die state. However, because Walter Breen had reported the existence of a later die state (never confirmed by anyone else), a specialist had some counterfeits made of the last “Breen” die state. The M “13.0” shown is an example of this rare counterfeit.

Images courtesy of Bill Eckberg