LARGE CENTS 1793-1857 AND 1868
The first official mintage of the large cent was in 1793, and its production continued until 1857,when it was officially replaced by the modern-size one-cent coin (commonly called the penny).
The Philadelphia Mint produced all large cents; they were made of nearly pure copper, whichcontained twice the copper of the half cent. Many different designs were minted and manydifferent designers involved.
Liberty Head ( 1816-1957):
Flowing Hair cents, chain reverse (1793)
The obverse featured a bust of Liberty with a reverse of a ring of chains. 36,103 coins were minted with the chain reverse. The reverse was made with the word AMERICA with Periods, Without Periods, AND with AMERI. The edge of the coin had bars and a slander vine with leaves. Later that year they added the lettered edge version (1793-1795): ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR
The design was almost universally criticized in its time for its unattractiveness and allusion to slavery, so The Mint Director David Rittenhouse ordered Adam Eckfeldt to revise the obverse and reverse designs.
Flowing Hair cents, chain reverse (1793)
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The reverse design was changed from chains to wreaths; the total mintage of the wreath reverse made was about 63,000 pieces.
Flowing Hair cent, strawberry
-leaf variety (1793)
Instead of the normal spring above the date, the rare strawberry
– leaf variety has a spray of trefoil leaves and a small blossom.
It is not known why the variety was created.
4 specimens are known to exist.
Liberty Cap cents (1793–1796)
They viewed variations of the design of Liberty Cap:
1793 with beaded border; “Jefferson head”, Head of 1793
– head in High, rounded relief; Head of 1794 with well-defined hair; head of 1795 Head in low relief, and 1794 starred reverse.
In general, this design was more successful and it was continued into 1796 but in 1795, planchets became too thin for the edge lettering because of a weight reduction, so the mint stopped edge lettering on the cent, and the rest of these coins were made with a plain edge.
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4 coins from 1795 are known to have a reeded edge!!!
THEY ARE EXTREMELY RARE, HIGHLY DESIRABLE &
COLLECTIBLE!! Highest sale: $1,265,000!
Draped Bust cents (1796–1807)
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Robert Scot redesigned the coin.
There is an interesting error on a 1796 coin, called a LIHERTY ERROR, worth huge money!
Other errors & varieties on draped bust cents: “fraction error” and variety; 1798- 8 over 7; 1799- 9 over 8; 1796 Stemless reverse; 1801- 3 errors: IINITED (United misprinted), 1/000 on the reverse (should be 1/100), one stem; 1804 Unofficial restrike of 1860 – uncirculated; 1807 Small 7 over 6, blunt 1, pointed 1; “Comes” variety; small and large date of 1803; and two different styles of hair variety.
Flowing Hair cent, strawberry
-leaf variety (1793)
Robert Scot redesigned the cent in 1816, giving
Liberty a much more mature look (leading to the
Matron Head reference), and surrounded the portrait
with stars along the outer edge of the coin.
The "Matron Head" design was modified in 1835 to
give Liberty a younger look (“Young Head”).
There are two varieties of the obverse of 1817 design:
one features 13 stars, another 15. Another one is a small and large date of 1819 and 1820; and medium letters of 1829-1837 of which 1830 is especially valuable; 1823 Unofficial restrike from broken obverse die; 1826, 6 over 5; and 1834 Large 8 and stars, medium letters.
Braided Hair (1839–1857; 1868)
Facing more negative public reaction, the Coronet cents
were redesigned by new Chief Engraver Christian Gobrecht. This last major change to the coin updated the obverse by giving Liberty a slimmer, more youthful appearance. Interesting varieties among collectors include: 1839 9 over 6, plain cords; 1843 Petite head, large letters; 1844 over 81; 1851 over 81; 1851/81, the Large and Small Dates of 1857, and extremely interesting are: the Booby Head and Silly Head of 1839, and the 1855 "Knob on Ear”.
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Head of 1838
silly head
booby head
Note the shape of the head and how the
hair curls around the truncation
"knob on ear" (1855)
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Braided hair (1868)
Some 11 years after the large cent was discontinued, a
mint employee coined several large cents dated 1868,
almost certainly for sale as instant rarities to numismatists. Fewer than a dozen of these unofficial issues, struck in both bronze and copper-nickel, are known to survive. In March 2005 one of them was sold at SBA for $36,800.
Classic Head cents (1808–1814)
John Reich redesigned Robert Scot draped bust cent, not popular among public. However his Classic Head design also did not find an approval of public and was soon replaced by another design. Known errors and varieties is 1810 -10 over 09, 1811- 1 over 0,1812 small and large date, and 1814 plain 4 and crosslet 4.
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LARGE CENT HISTORY, ERRORS & VARIETIES: