Draped Bust Cents 1796-1807 Coin Guide
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Draped Bust Cents 1796-1807
At no other time in American history was the one cent coin so important
as it was in the closing years of the 18th century. Although cumbersome,
the large copper coins were useful for very small transactions, unlike the
wide variety of foreign coins then in circulation. Yet the Mint's ability
to create dies and procure quality copper for these vital coins was
hampered by inadequate machinery, inexperienced employees and lack of
funds, not to mention frequent epidemics of yellow fever. It often cost
more to produce a coin than its face value. Though these failings could be
explained as the growing pains of a new enterprise, Congress on several
occasions almost gave up on the business of making coins and considered
turning the matter over to private companies.
The young Mint was frequently attacked as inefficient. Actually, if one
were to characterize the early years of the Philadelphia facility, the
words "blunder" and "disaster" might come to mind.
Along with a multitude of production difficulties, adequate supplies of
copper were also a problem. The metal was mostly purchased in the form of
planchets or blanks, but the domestic supply was inferior and resulted in
dark, rough flans described as "black copper" by the Mint. Full
of impurities, coins minted from this metal were of poor quality and wore
rapidly. As a result, most of the copper supply had to be imported,
primarily from the Boulton & Watt Company of Liverpool, England.
The denomination began with the design by Henry Voight in 1793, a
flowing haired Liberty with a chain of fifteen links on the reverse.
Almost immediately, objections were raised to the chain design, as it
symbolized slavery and domination rather than the image of unity that
Voight intended. A wreath quickly took its place. Later in 1793, Joseph's
Wright's Liberty Cap design, borrowed from Dupré's Libertas Americana
medal, replaced the wild haired Liberty of the earlier pieces. Both Robert
Scot and John Smith Gardner contributed variations of this design until a
new motif was adopted in July of 1796.
Scot's new Draped Bust design was modeled after a drawing by artist
Gilbert Stuart. It depicts Liberty with flowing hair, a ribbon behind her
head and drapery at her neckline. The inscription LIBERTY is above the
bust and the date below. The reverse features the denomination ONE CENT,
encircled by an open wreath of two olive branches tied with a bow. UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the wreath, and the fraction 1/100 is between
the ends of the bow.
There are three varieties of reverses; each varies the leaves and
berries on the wreath. They are known as the "Type of 1794,"
"Type of 1795" or "Type of 1797." All three types were
used on the reverse of 1796 cents, with the latter two types on the 1797.
The last reverse remained constant on the dates through 1807.
Since the lettering was punched into the dies by hand, errors abound.
Among these are blunders such as the "LIHERTY" error where the
"B" was rotated 180 degrees before being punched and then
crudely corrected, or the "T" over "Y" blunder in
1802. Other variations involve the spacing and positioning of the
lettering and date. Reverse errors include the wrong fraction, 1/000; a
corrected fraction; the 2nd "T" in STATES or the "U"
in UNITED punched inverted, then corrected; a large fraction punched over
a small fraction and a stemless wreath.
Over sixteen million Draped Bust large cents were made between 1796 and
1807. Although replete with many scarce varieties, the series has one
particularly rare date, 1799. First popularized by early 19th century
collector Joseph Mickley's search for his birthyear coin, the 1799 issue
has achieved fame among large cent devotees. Although the mintage was
relatively high, they are elusive in all grades. One story relating to
their short supply opines that thousands of 1799 dated cents destined for
tribal chiefs in exchange for slaves were lost at sea while being shipped
to Africa by a Salem, Massachusetts company.
Because coin collecting wasn't popular until the 1850's, coins of this
era were typically saved by mere chance. When copper was scarce or very
high-priced, craftsmen or others who worked with the metal would buy kegs
of copper cents to melt. The large cents also found use as home medical
remedies, hotel key fobs and mechanical devices. Notched large cents were
also used as a means of identification for runaway slaves on the way
north.
Some unopened kegs survived and became the source of uncirculated
specimens. One group of survivors came from a bag of one thousand pieces
bought by Senator Benjamin Goodhue for his daughters around 1798.
Preserved for several generations, they were sold in 1863 by David Nichols
of Gallows Hill, near Salem, Massachusetts. Most of the mint state cents
from 1796-97 come from this "Nichols Hoard."
As the popularity of coin collecting grew, a cottage industry developed
both on and off the mint premises to reproduce scarce dates. Around 1858,
the rare date 1804 Draped Bust cent was "restruck" in copper
using dies sold as scrap metal by the mint. These restrikes can easily be
distinguished from the originals as they exhibit evidence of tooling to
correct flaws in the badly rusted dies. Other restrikes and uniface
examples of this date are known in white metal.
Large cent specialists often try to acquire as many varieties as
possible. The guide for this endeavor is in the works of Dr. William H.
Sheldon, Early American Cents and the update published in 1958 called
Penny Whimsy. General collectors seek large cents by design type. A
representative collection would include only seven coins: The Chain cent
of 1793, the Wreath cent of 1793, the Liberty Cap (1793-96), the Draped
Bust (1796-1807), the Classic Head (1808-1814), the Coronet Head
(1816-1839) and the Braided Hair (1839-57).
Draped Bust large cents suffer from some of the peculiar
characteristics and problems of early coins. It is not unusual to see
clipped planchets and uneven striking. Often the denomination ONE CENT is
very weak, even on uncirculated pieces.
When grading this design, the points to first show wear on the obverse
are the hair above the forehead, the hair above the ear and shoulder and
the lines of the draped bustline. On the reverse, look for wear on the
leaves of the olive branches and the knot of the ribbon.
The Draped Bust design was replaced in 1808 with the introduction of
the "Classic Head" motif by the new Second Engraver, John Reich.
The new design was concurrent with an improvement in die steel allowing,
for the first time, an unprecedented 300,000 impressions per working die.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Diameter: 29 millimeters Weight: 10.89 grams Composition: Copper Edge:
Plain
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete
Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, New York,
1988. Schwarz, Ted, Coins As Living History, Arco Publishing Co., New
York, 1976. Noyes, William C., United States Large Cents 1793-1814,
Published by the author, Monument Beach, MA, 1991. Sheldon, William H.,
Penny Whimsy, A Revision of Early American Cents 1794-1814, Quarterman
Publications, Lawrence, MA, 1976. Taxay, Don, The U.S. Mint and Coinage,
Arco Publishing Co., New York, 1966. Williamson, R. H., "Large Cents
That Survived," Selections from The Numismatist, United States Coins,
Whitman Publishing Company, Racine, WI, 1960.
Coin Information Provided Courtesy NGC.
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