In contrast to the previous two years, the 1804 cent is the second classic rarity in the large cent series. The coin is not as rare as the 1799, and it is easier to locate the date in higher grades. The reported mintage in The Red Book was 96,500. The mint reported 756,838, but most of those coins were undoubtedly dated 1803. The PCGS CoinFacts estimate is 1,000 pieces. The is only one known die variety. Most of the coins in the estimate are in the lower grades. Most 1804 cents, even the high grade pieces are plagued with corrosion spots. Dark corrosion spots seem to often be ignored or have little effect on the assigned grades by the leading third party graders. There have been many counterfeits made for this date over the years. The most famous was made in the mid 19th century (see below). It was made from a badly rusted altered 1803 die and a die from an 1820 large cent. It would not fool an experienced collector. Other fabrications are far more dangerous. Certification for this date is recommended. This 1804 cent was made from a pair of dies in their latter stages of use. There are die cuds over “TY” in “LIBERTY” on the obverse and another one over “MERIC” in “AMERICA” on the reverse. Both of these marks are will known for this date. The so-called “1804 restrike” cent is neither. It was not made from the original dies, and it was not made in 1804. The piece was made from dies the mint discarded as scrap.
I was a long time just finding any example of an 1804 that I could afford but did finaly get one.... a little on the smooth side but the date is clean lol
The big cuds seem to be pretty common on this date. Many of the survivors seem to be the late die state. The coin is PCGS graded EF-40. It's one of those "Hanson coins." I like it better than some of the higher graded pieces because it has less dark brown corosion on it. I saw a couple in auctions that were grade EF-45 and AU which had quite a bit of dark toning on them.
