1844
James K. Polk was elected president this year, the US and China signed a treaty of peace, friendship, and commerce, and Samuel Morse sent his first telegraph message "What hath God wrought! from Washington, DC to Baltimore. Edgar Allen Poe published "The Premature Burial," the first private bath in a hotel is installed in the New York Hotel, and iron was first used for railroad tracks.
Elsewhere, Alexandre Dumas published The Three Musketeers, William Siemens developed a mechanical copying method, and Scotsman Robert Chambers published, anonymously, the first work on the theory of evolution. In England, the YMCA was founded by George Williams and the Factory Act forbid children under 13 from working more than a 6 1/2 hour day.
This year, the mint struck and delivered 2,398752 large cents. Eight varieties are known for this year (N 1 – N 8). This date includes an overdate (1844/81), caused when the die maker punched the “18” in the date upside down and in the wrong position. One variety, N 8, is known only in proof. Half cents dated 1844 were struck only as proofs. There is no record of how many were struck. Restrikes of these coins were made in the late 1850’s and early 1860’s. Restrikes come with either large or small berries on the reverse.
The nicest coins for this year in the national numismatic collection include C 1 and N 8.
Half cents
Large Cents