Flowing Hair Half Dimes

During the colonial era, the economic system in the American colonies was tied into the English system of pounds, shillings and pence. A less cumbersome method of coinage, the decimal system, had long been championed by Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and financier Robert Morris. After several unsuccessful attempts to pass authorizing legislation, their plans finally came to fruition with the Mint Act of April 2, 1792. Both the establishment of a mint and the decimal system were not only seen as practical for the new nation but symbolic of a break from England as well.