SInce Huckleberry Finn is set pre-Civil-War, the only kind of 5-cent U.S. coin around at the time would have been the Half Dime. (These were small silver coins, only half the total volume of a Dime, and were minted until 1873. They bore the words HALF DIME on the back, which were the only indication of the coin’s value.) The 5-cent nickel wasn’t minted until 1866, a year after the Civil War ended.
Did the text of Huck Finn say this coin was a “half dime”, or did it really say “five-cent piece”?
Although set pre-Civil War, it was written long after (published 1884)… so it’s certainly possible that Twain “goofed” in terms of historical accuracy.
I was wondering if half-dimes really were referred to as five-cent pieces in their time. (What with their being worth five cents, and all.)
Even today, the common names for U.S. coins often don’t match their official names. The official names for the U.S. coins that are in common circulation today are:[ul][li]cent[/li][li]nickel five-cent piece[/li][li]dime[/li][li]quarter dollar[/li][li]half dollar[/li][li]dollar[/ul]… yet the names by which these coins are commonly referred to are:[ul][]penny[/li][li]nickel[/li][li]dime[/li][li]quarter[/li][li]half dollar[/li][]useless waste of taxpayer’s money[/ul]So it’s entirely possible that the folks along the banks of the Mississippi in the pre-Civil-War days referred to half dimes as five-cent pieces.
I think that the term “five cent(er)” would not have been unknown in pre-Civil War US.
I base this on the “half-dime” which was minted between 1829-1837. On the back it says, at the bottom, “5 C.” Obviously “five cents.” When, in 1837, the US adopted a different design for the coin, on the reverse it said “half dime.” I can’t explain why the change in language, probably just the whim of the engraver/designer.
You might also consider that there were banknotes produced prior to the Civil War, and some of these were of fractional denominations. They said “five cents.” Not half dime. These were privately printed notes. The US Gummint didn’t print until 1862.
So, while Twain probably was writing in the vocabulary of 1884, he wasn’t wrong about what a person might have said prior to the Civil War. IMHO.
My goodness, you’re right! I’d forgotten that the Capped Bust design of the half dime (which pre-dated the 1837 Seated Liberty design) did indeed say “5 C.” on the back.
Or perhaps the whim of Congress. The Coinage Act provided for “half dismes” that were defined in terms of the dollar rather than the cent:
The 1829-37 Capped Bust coin with the “5 c.” logo may have been the work of a designer or engraver whose work was “corrected” when the Mint checked the statute authorizing the coinage.
While the statute may have mandated “half disme,” I doubt that it was a term that tripped easily off the tongues of most people in every day life.
Here’s my expanded theory.
When the US started producing silver coins in 1794, they put the denomination of the dollar on the edge. It said “Hundred Cents One Dollar or Unit.” The same year we produced the half dollar. On the edge it said “Fifty Cents or Half a Dollar.” There was no edge legend on the quarter dollar, dime or half dime.
John Reich became the chief engraver at the mint in 1807. He redesigned the bust on the coins, and, in 1809, his design for the dime said, on the back of the coin, “10 C.” Reich’s design was first used on the quarter in 1815. And on the back of the coin it said “25 C.” His half dollar design said, in 1807 on the back of the coin, “50 C.”
The Mint didn’t produce any “half dimes” between the years 1805 and 1829. William Kneass was the engraver when the modified Reich design was used on the 1829 5 cent piece. I have no doubt that Kneass was merely following in the tradition that Reich started, putting the denomination on the reverse of the coin.
IN 1837, the entire silver series was redesigned by Christian Gobrecht, the chief engraver at the time. He chose to put “half dol.” “Quar. Dol.” “One Dime” and “half dime” on the reverses of the silver coins. I think it was simply his stylistic choice. I don’t think the Congress in 1837 told him to quit using the term “C” for cents.
Perhaps Reich, a German engraver who had recently(1802 or so) come to the US, was using his European background and putting 50c/25c/10c/ on the coins. And Kneass was almost certainly just continuing to make the coinage uniform when the 1829 “5c” half dime was started up.
I have a specialized book at work. I’ll try to look up some background tomorrow.
Here are all the passages from the Coinage Act where “cents” are mentioned:
"[In Section 9] CENTS–each to be of the value of the one hundredth part of a dollar, and to contain eleven penny-weights of copper.
HALF CENTS–each to be of the value of half a cent, and to contain five penny-weights and a half a penny-weight of copper.
[In Section 10] upon the reverse of each of the gold and silver coins there shall be the figure or representation of an eagle, with this inscription, “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and upon the reverse of each of the copper coins, there shall be an inscription which shall express the denomination of the piece, namely, cent or half cent, as the case may require.
Section 20. And be it further enacted, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units, dismes or tenths, cents or hundredths, and the milles or thousandths, a disme being the tenth part of a dollar, a cent the hundredth part of a dollar, a mille the thousandth part of a dollar"
There was no provision anywhere in the Coinage Act requiring any mention – in milles cents, dismes, dollars, Troy ounces, or what have you – of the value of any of the gold or silver coins, including the half disme, on the coin itself. The bearer of the coin was just supposed to “know” how much it was worth, I guess.
Oh, man, can you imagine going through life as a professional named “Knee-ass”?
Anyway, samclem, I fixed the date in your post, so there’s no future confusion. Notice that no one has remarked on the similarity of your name with Sam Clemens.
