Featured 1793 US large cent - My hunger for learning

Thank you everyone for your wonderful feedback! I love seeing everyone's input on this amazing subject. Seems that the Mint didn't keep the best of records back in the day, so a lot of what we know is based on assumption, along with correspondence of the day.

I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to GDJMSP for featuring my article! That is a first for me. Had I known it could possibly be featured, I would have put a little more detail into it. I was just trying to provide some general interesting details about the original coins. I thought that others (like me) that knew little about the original design might enjoy reading some of the history of those original coins.

Thank you so much everyone! I look forward to further discussion on these types of coins! Maybe some day, I can win the lottery so I can afford to buy one of these early coins (even if in AG or Fair grade!)!

 

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Nice post. I'll have to read it again with a beer and sausage

 

Great post. I've just started my research foray into Large Cents and this is a wonderful supplement.
This cent was one of the coins in the August "Ugly Ducklings" issue of Coin World...One could definitely argue that Lady Liberty does indeed look a bit scared and haggard!

 

No, JD. I too think some of them look witch like. There's quite a bit of variety between the ones I've seen on the internet. On some, Lady Liberty has swollen cheeks as though she's on prednisone. On others she's quite beautiful.

 

great article, boston! and nice work

 

More posts like this would

be a pleasure.

 

A good read surprised the silver centered cent didn't come up or the bars and vines on the edge. But still stuff i didn't know.

 

Very nice, thank you for the read.

 

Great history, thank you for detailing this. It is nice to learn the engraver's name for this classic issue.
Am I missing something or does the production quality of the 1781 Libertas Americana appear to be markedly superior to our 1793 1C? Of course the token is not circulated, but the Chain
Cent shown here is in mint state, so it's a fair comparison.
Perhaps it's a matter of die state, or was the mint technology so much more advanced in France in 1781? This example looks like it could be offered as a new commem from the U.S. Mint. Some tokens were later smoothed, and maybe this is one of those; but the strike and even the planchet quality still look a lot better.
As to the 'witchy' look of the 1793 1C: With the wild hair, sloped forehead and heavy eyelid the early Liberty does appear a bit ragged. But then Americans had plenty to be tired about at that point, so it may well be an accurate depiction of the national mood. And while refinement was a goal of colonial society, those who exchanged the first large cents around wharves, inns and taverns were on the rougher side of life.
The Chain Cent obverse has always seemed appropriate to me in these ways.