The mint issued cents under three guises in 1796. During the first three and a half months of the year, left over dies from 1795 were used. Although the law called for a coin to bear the date of its issue, that law was often ignored at the first mint. Coinage dies were expensive, and the change in a calendar year was not viewed as a good reason for discarding a perfectly good die. Later in the year, Chief Mint Engraver, Robert Scot, modified the Liberty Cap design for 1796. Scot’s Ms. Liberty was in higher relief that the 1795 version, but lower than the 1794 coins. These coins were minted from April 18 to May 10, 1796. The 1796 Liberty Cap cents were in higher relief than the 1795 dated pieces, but were lower relief than the 1794 issues. This piece is a Sheldon #81. It is only slightly scarce. The reverse of this variety is often weak because Scot’s dies did not have a proper metal flow. One this piece “ONE CENT” is almost entirely not readable. Some argued that Scot made the changes as a matter of personal vanity after John Smith Gardner modified it starting in late 1794. Later in the year, Scot brought his Draped Bust design to the large cent. Earlier he had introduced it on the silver dollar in September 1795. The Draped Bust would appear on all copper and silver U.S. coins until 1807 when the mint began to phase it out in favor of the Capped Bust design. This 1796 cent is Sheldon #102. It is somewhat scarce. The reverse is in the style of the 1794 cents. For the date collector, the Liberty Cap and Draped Bust designs are of equal rarity. The Draped Bust coins are easier to find in the higher grades. One of the huge bottlenecks in the mint’s operations was the manufacturing of planchets. The coin rollers which the mint used to flatten the ingots to the thickness of the finished coins were constantly breaking down. It was for this reason that the mint spent the first 10 months of 1795 producing only silver and gold coins. Because of the dictates of Congress, the priority was turned away from the copper coinage to save the rollers for the precious metals. One solution to the problem was to buy copper planchets from outside sources. In 1796 the mint bought premade copper planchets from the firm of Governor & Company. When the copper arrived from overseas, it was found to be almost totally unsatisfactory. The planchets were shaped like little cups, convex / concave, which was not appropriate for making coins. The blanks would have to be flattened before the designs could be struck on them. Furthermore, the sheet copper the mint received from the same source was similarly faulty. It had the texture of iron instead of smooth copper. The poor quality of the copper had a negative effect upon the coins that were made from it. Ultimately the mint established a positive relationship with the British firm, Boulton and Watt. The planchets the mint received from them were high quality. The mint would buy its blanks from Boulton and Watt for the next 40 years. There would be only two interruptions, during the War of 1812 and one other time when there was a quality dispute.
