Classic Head Large Cent Coin Facts-Pictures

Classic Head Large Cent Brief History & Facts

The so-called "Classic Head" large cent was produced by the United States Mint from 1808-1814. Many Large Cent design changes occurred in a few short years to bring about the Classic Head design. In 1806, a new director, Robert Patterson, took command at the Mint, and that signaled yet another shake-up for the coinage-including the cent.

The U. S. coins being issued at that time all bore designs by the Mint's chief engraver, Robert Scot: Mint Director Patterson clearly wasn't impressed, for in 1807 he commissioned new designs for each and every one of these coins. John Reich was hired to serve as Scot's assistant and redesign the coinage.

Reich's assignment from Patterson was all-inclusive: He revamped every coin from the half cent through the half eagle, the lowest and highest denominations then being produced. His obverse design for the cent (and half cent) was a left-facing portrait of Liberty with curly hair, tied with a headband inscribed LIBERTY. Miss Liberty is surrounded by 13 stars, seven to the left and six to the right, with the date below her. The coin's reverse carries the statement of value, ONE CENT, within a continuous wreath. This, in turn, is encircled by the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The term "Classic Head" is credited to Ebenezer Locke Mason Jr., who proposed it in his hobby periodical, Mason's Coin and Stamp Collector's Magazine, in 1868. The "classical" connection is the fillet, or narrow headband, a device which dates back to ancient Greece. But the parallelism is flawed, for only young male athletes wore fillets in ancient times: They were prizes awarded to winners of local sporting competitions.

Production of the new design began in 1808, with just over one million pieces struck. A cent shortage developed the following year, however, when the Mint ran out of planchets. Official records state that 222,867 cents were made in 1809, but research has uncovered that nearly 50,000 cents minted in June of 1809 may have been struck with leftover 1808 dies. Production returned to normal in 1810; in fact, that year's output of 1,458,500 was the high-point for the series. But a roller-coaster ride began in 1811 when mintage fell to 218,025, the series' low point, rising sharply in 1812, then dropping again appreciably in 1813. After a final low-mintage year in 1814, the abbreviated series came to an end.

Combined total mintage for the series' seven dates is just 4,757,722-all from the Philadelphia Mint. There are no great rarities in the series, but no "common dates" either. The scarcest date is 1809, usually seen darkly colored and porous, a condition familiar to much of the series. Classic Head cents are widely collected by date; dedicated hobbyists often include the over dates and other varieties in their sets, as well. Type collectors pursue the more commonly found 1814 coins, with their generally sharper strikes and occasional touches of mint red. The Mint made no proofs, but some partially mint-red and proof-like examples of 1810 are known, discovered in a tiny hoard in the 1930s. Points to check for wear include the hair above Liberty's eye and the leaves next to the O in ONE and the T in CENT.

Coin Information Provided Courtesy NGC.