Okay ladies and gentlemen. Here is an easy trivia question. Remember that this is for learning and for fun, not prizes. The US Mint has produced "Cents" from 1793 through 2004, with the exception of 1 year. What year did the Mint not produce a one cent coin, and why?
1815 - No one cent coins were minted due to the shortage of copper b/c of the War of 1812. Close? Dead on?
Sounds like Cohiba is right. That's quite a run --- most other denominations have major breaks in years. I guess the cent is the Cal Ripken of coins!!!
The war of 1812,,, yes, a place I frequently play rec ball at (Paintball) just recreated that war. Pretty fun I must say!
The reason for the shortage was an embargo enacted by Great Britain. The US mint aquired all of its blank planchets from the firm of Boulton & Watt in Birmingham, England. All of the planchets on hand were used up by the end of 1814. In fact, the mint had been buying scrap copper on the open market and rolling it and making planchets in house. Some of these coins are very dark. In 1816 the embargo was lifted and production resumed.
According to the Red Book there were 2,820,982 copper large cents minted that year. Why nothing else? I sure don't know, but a metal shortage resulting from the War of 1812 doesn't make much sense as a reason for only minting copper.
Here is a little extra insight. The mint made Half dollars the first week and a half in 1816, but all were dated 1815. On Jan. 11, 1816 at 2am, a neighbor dumped hot ashes into a barrel next to an outbuilding of the mint. The ensuing fire destroyed the Mint's rolling mills. These mills were needed to roll out the metal to make the planchets for silver and gold. As a result, only the cent could be produced.
