Discounting the "pattern" 1792 Half Disme that was prepared in temporary facilities before construction of the actual Mint building, the 1794 is the first Half Dime attributable to the United States Mint. It is one of only two issues in the short-lived Flowing Hair series designed by Robert Scot, the total mintage of which is 86,416 pieces. The vast majority of those coins were delivered from 1795-dated dies, and the mintage of the 1794 is estimated at just 7,756 pieces by Logan and McCloskey in their aforementioned Half Dime book. In addition to its historic significance, therefore, the 1794 is such an important coin in U.S. numismatics because of its scarcity even in circulated grades. Mint State coins are nothing short of rare, especially from a market availability standpoint, such is the strong demand that this issue enjoys among advanced collectors.

Half dimes were the first denomination struck by the United State Mint. After the "small beginning" of 1792, the next issue of half dimes came a couple of years later with the Flowing Hair type designed by Robert Scot. While the dies for the 1794 half dimes were ready by year's end, they were not put into service until 1795. All told, 86,416 Flowing Hair half dimes were struck that year. In 1796, the obverse was replaced with the Draped Bust, resulting in a brief tenure for the Flowing Hair design type. The exact number of 1794-dated half dimes struck in not known with certainty. Based on orders for bullion deposits that the Mint filled, however, it is possible to estimate the mintage of this issue at 7,756 pieces, the remaining 78,660 coins struck during calendar year 1795 actually bearing that date. Four die marriages were required to strike the 1794-dated pieces, and LM-2 trails only LM-1 as the second rarest variety of the issue. Mint State survivors are particularly elusive in numismatic circles.

Although dated 1794, these were not struck until the calendar year 1795. In the latter year the Philadelphia Mint coined 86,416 half dimes. Certification service population statistics suggest that approximately 25% of these were 1794-dated pieces. A look through some recent auction records for 1794 half dimes indicates that the Mint State population includes representatives from each of the four 1794 die combinations enumerated in the Logan-McCloskey half dime reference. It seems likely that many of these were plucked from circulation at the time of issue as bright, lustrous souvenirs of the newly established federal coinage.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the D. Brent Pogue Part I Auction, where it realized $305,500.