Coronet large cent

"Braided Hair" redirects here. For other uses, see Braided Hair (disambiguation).

The Coronet large cent was a type of large cent issued by the United States Mint at the Philadelphia Mint^[1] from 1816 until 1857.^[2]

Coronet large cent

United States
Value	0.01 U.S. Dollar
Mass	10.89 g
Diameter	29 (1836–1839) or 27 (1839–1857 and 1868) mm
Edge	Plain
Composition	100% Cu
Years of minting	1816–1857 and 1868
Mint marks	None; all large cents were minted at the Philadelphia Mint.
Obverse
Design	Liberty
Designer	Robert Scot
Design date	1816
Design	Liberty
Designer	Robert Scot (original design), Christian Gobrecht (modified design)
Design date	1836
Design	Liberty, Braided Hair, Petite Head
Designer	Robert Scot (original design), Christian Gobrecht (modified design)
Design date	1839
Design	Liberty, Braided Hair, Mature Head
Designer	Robert Scot (original design), Christian Gobrecht (modified design)
Design date	1843
Reverse
Design	Wreath
Designer	Robert Scot
Design date	1816
Design	Wreath
Designer	Robert Scot (original design), Christian Gobrecht (modified design)
Design date	1839

There are two similar designs of the Coronet large cent, the Matron Head and the Braided Hair, the latter with a slightly altered profile. This was the last large cent produced by the mint, being replaced by the reduced diameter Flying Eagle cent in 1857.

History

During the War of 1812, a trade embargo was imposed between the United States and England, which had supplied the US Mint with copper planchets.^[3] The mint's supply was exhausted in 1814, and no Classic Head cents were produced dated 1815. It has often been written that no cents at all were struck that year, but coinage did resume in December 1815 using an 1814 or 1816-dated die.^[4]

Once the embargo was lifted and the mint received new planchets, large cent production resumed, this time with a new design of the goddess Liberty by Robert Scot. The design change was made because the Classic Head cents received much criticism.^[5]

In 1823, only proof cents were produced during the calendar year, all others were made in 1824 using back-dated dies.^[6]

The new cents, known as Matron Head cents, were not much better, however, and numismatist Walter Breen called the design "a spectacularly ugly head of Ms. Liberty".^[7] In 1836, Christian Gobrecht made several modifications to the design, giving the bust of Liberty a younger appearance.

Gobrecht made further changes in 1839, creating the "Petite Head" Braided Hair cent. In 1843, the bust was enlarged and tilted upward, this design is known as the "Mature Head".

Varieties

Matron Head varieties

Matron Head varieties (1816–1839)
Year	Variety	Mintage	Notes
1816	–	2,820,982
1817	13 stars	3,948,400
	15 stars error		Likely to have been caused by Robert Scot's poor eyesight due to age
1818	–	3,167,000
1819	Standard date	2,671,000
	9 over 8 error
1820	Small date	4,407,550
	Large date
	20 over 19 error		Both small date and large date known[8]
1821	–	389,000
1822	–	2,072,339
1823	Standard date
	3 over 2 error
	Restrike	An estimated 240 examples exist[9]	Believed to have been created around the same time as the 1804 restrike large cent[10]
	Silver restrike	>2
1824	Standard date	1,262,000
	4 over 2 error
1825	–	1,461,100
1826	Standard date	1,517,425
	6 over 5 error
1827	–	2,357,732
1828	Large date	2,260,624
	Small date
1829	Large lettering	1,414,500
	Small lettering
1830	Large lettering	1,711,500
	Small lettering
1831	Large lettering	3,359,260
	Small lettering
1832	Large lettering	2,362,000
	Small lettering
1833	–	2,739,000
1834	Small 8, large stars	1,855,100
	Large 8, small stars
	Large 8, large stars, small lettering
	Large 8, large stars, large lettering
1835	Small 8, small stars	3,878,400
	Large 8, large stars
	Type of 1836
1836	–	2,111,000
1837	Type of 1837, large lettering	5,558,300
	Type of 1837, small lettering
	Type of 1838
1838	–	6,370,200
1839	Head of 1838	3,128,661
	Head of 1838, 9 over 6 error
	"Silly Head"
	"Booby Head"

Braided Hair varieties

Braided Hair varieties (1839–1857; 1868)
Year	Variety	Mintage	Notes
1839	–	3,128,661
1840	Small date	2,462,700
	Large date
	Small over large date error
1841	–	1,597,367
1842	Large date	2,383,390
	Small date
1843	Small head, small lettering	2,425,342
	Small head, large lettering
	Large head
1844	Standard date	2,398,752
	44 over 81 error		In reality, the date was punched into the die upside-down, but was corrected by punching the date correctly[11][12]
1845	–	3,894,804
1846	Small date	4,120,800
	Medium date
	Tall date
1847	Standard date	6,183,669
	Large over small 47
1848	Standard date	6,415,799
	Small date (counterfeit)	>10-12	Although this coin is a counterfeit, many numismatists include this coin in coin catalogs
1849	–	4,178,500
1850	–	4,426,844
1851	Standard date	9,889,707
	51 over 81		This error is similar to the 44 over 81 error, and inverted date was corrected by punching the date correctly into the die[13]
1852	–	5,063,094
1853	–	6,641,131
1854	–	4,236,156
1855	Upright 55	1,574,829
	Slanted 55
	Slanted 55, knob on ear		Error caused by a die break
1856	Upright 5	2,690,463
	Slanted 5
1857	Large date	333,456
	Small date
1868	Nickel	>7	Pattern coins struck for collectors
	Copper	≈12

Replacement

Main articles: Ring cent and Flying Eagle cent

An 1868 dime pattern struck with the Coronet large cent obverse.

The price of copper rose dramatically in the late-1840s, and the cost of producing large cents rose as a result. The US Mint started seeking an alternative that used less copper. The first attempt was to perforate the coin, resulting in the ring cents of 1850 and 1851. The standard composition of these coins was billon, an alloy of 90% copper and 10% silver. This coin was not placed into production as it was expensive to extract the silver from the alloy, and the coins were difficult to eject from the dies. Additionally, a drop in the price of copper temporarily eliminated the need to replace the large cent.

The price of copper rose again in the mid-1850s, and the mint again looked for an alternative cent. This time, the cent was reduced in size, only a little larger than a dime. Patterns for the Flying Eagle cent were struck in 1854, and proved to be a suitable replacement for the large cent. The small cent was approved for production in 1856, and several thousand 1856 Flying Eagle cents were sold to collectors. Full-scale production commenced in mid-1857, replacing the large cent last struck earlier that year.^[14]

In 1868, eleven years after the last large cent was produced, a mint employee struck around a dozen and a half large cents dated 1868. These coins were struck in both copper and nickel planchets.^[15][16] Also produced that year were about 2 dozen dime patterns were minted in nickel with the obverse die of the 1868 large cent, plus an additional 2 dozen pieces struck in copper.^[17]

See also

• Silver center cent
• Chain cent
• Wreath cent
• Liberty Cap large cent
• Draped Bust
• Indian Head cent
• Lincoln cent