In another article, we profile the body of United States large cents struck from 1793 through 1814, a period that saw several designs and many dozens of different varieties that are avidly pursued by copper connoisseurs to this day. But, why does the “first” large cent chapter seem to end in 1814? As circumstances had it, the year “1815” is the only date not seen on any United States cents.
Why? Many frequently cite a fire at the U.S. Mint for disrupting the cent production that year. But numismatic historian R.W. Julian says the story is more complicated than that. “First of all, cents were struck in 1815 though not with that date,” he reports. So, why none with the 1815 date? “Beginning in 1798, the U.S. Mint did not prepare its own planchets for cent and half cent coinage but rather imported them from Matthew Boulton and his manufactory at Soho, near Birmingham, England. The last such shipment received before the War of 1812 arrived just before the outbreak of war. These were struck in varying amounts from 1812 to 1814, but in 1814 the mint ran out of planchets. When word of peace reached America in January 1815, United States Mint Director Robert Patterson lost no time in ordering five tons of cent planchets (450,000+ pieces) from Boulton. A larger order was made later in the year but did not arrive until 1816. The five tons arrived in late 1815 and were unloaded and in the Mint by mid-December.”
The 1815 Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, compiled in January 1816, states that cent coinage resumed in 1815 after planchet shipments were received. “My personal belief is that dies of 1816 were used, but others think 1814. I prefer 1816, as the engraver may have believed that the five tons of planchets would not arrive until the new year. How many were struck in December 1815 is not known. The fire at the Philadelphia Mint came on the night of January 10/11, 1816, at 2 in the morning. The rolling mills, necessary for gold and silver coinage, were destroyed and not replaced until 1817. Cent planchets were plentiful in 1816, allowing heavy copper coinage all year.”
And with the major output of one-cent coins in 1816 came a new design in the form of the Coronet Head type, showing the head of Miss Liberty on the obverse and a wreath on the reverse encircling the denomination “ONE CENT.” This design was carried out by Chief Engraver Robert Scot, and it was in production through 1839. While these coins are aging into their 200s, they are nevertheless affordable and can be had as little as $50.
That’s not to say there aren’t some truly rare and valuable Coronet Cents out there. The 1823 Cent is one such date, with Julian stating that, “no cents for circulation were struck in 1823 though cents exist with that date struck in 1824.” The 1823 Cent has a price of more than $150 in G4. Then there’s a cool variety known as the 1834 Large 8, Large Stars, Medium Letters that takes about $500 in G4.
The large cent ambled into the middle of the 19th century with the introduction of the Braided Hair Cent in 1839. The design by United States Mint Chief Engraver Christian Gobrecht gave Miss Liberty a few facial refinements and a higher hair bun adorned with beads, along with other modifications. Devoid of any major rarities, the Braided Hair large cent is no less a great collector coin. Most dates retail for less than $35 in G4, with some uncirculated specimens selling for as little as $300 to $400 – peanuts as compared to the prices of earlier large cents in “mint” condition. Some of the varieties are noteworthy, including the 1847/47 Large/Small 47, 1851/81, and the 1857 Large Date and Small Date varieties all going for between $50 and $100 apiece in G4.
The rising price of copper and shrinking purchasing power of the one-cent coin (even in the 1850s) contributed to the changes mandated in the Coinage Act of 1857. That pivotal coin law abolished the half cent coin, demonetized foreign coins, and reduced the size of the one-cent coin.