1850
The seventh US Census showed 23,191,876 citizens of the United States. Congress passed five bills on the question of slavery, which became known as the Compromise of 1850. Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlet Letter, a cholera epidemic killed thousands in the mid-west, "Harper's Monthly Magazine" began publication in New York City, and Stephen Foster wrote "Camptown Races."
Around the world, the Taiping Rebellion began in China, Wagner, in political exile, was not able to attend the opening of his opera "Lohengrin," performed by Liszt, Helmholtz measured the speed of a nerve impulse, and Lamont discovered that the Earth's magnetic field occasionally fluctuates.
The mint struck and delivered 4,426,844 large cents and 39,812 half cents this year. Twenty-five different varieties of large cents (N 1 – N 7, N 9, N 11 -15, and N 17 -28) and. one variety (C 1) of half cent are known for this date. One variety, N 11, comes as both a business strike and a proof. Half cents, which come in both business and proof strikes, were delivered in June and September. The number of proofs struck is unknown.
The nicest coins for this year in the national numismatic collection include C 1 (1), C 1 (3), and N 26.
Half cents
Cents