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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 4600180, member: 101855"]In 1807 John Reich was hired at the mint as an assistant engraver. Reich was charged with redesigning every U.S. coin that was in circulation, and he brought his Classic Head design to the cent in 1808. Reich’s interpretation of Ms. Liberty was a rather buxom lady wearing a turban with “LIBERTY” on her headband. The wreath on the reverse was more closely wrapped with a more compact bow at the bottom. [ATTACH=full]1139294[/ATTACH] The 1814 large cent was the last of the "early cents" according to Dr. William Sheldon.       For years it was claimed in the Red Book that the Classic Head cents were produced on soft copper that caused those coins to show wear quickly while they were in circulation. More accurately the reason for the scarcity of high grade Classic Head cents can be traced to the mintages. From 1796 until 1807 the mint produced almost 16.1 million Draped Bust cents. During the period from 1808 to 1814 the mintage of Classic Head cents totaled only 4.8 million pieces. Since there were few collectors in America who would have preserved these early coins, natural attrition took a greater toll on the Classic Head coins.       At the beginning of the War of 1812, the British embargoed their imports to America, which included the copper planchets upon which the cents were made. The mint had been importing copper planchets and sheet copper from England since its early days and did not have a reliable domestic supplier. By the end of 1814 the mint had run out of copper planchets, and the mintage of cents was suspended. The mint did not strike any cents dated 1815, and that one year remains to this day the only date in which the United States did not issue a one cent piece. Over the years collectors have tried to fill this “hole” in their collections with cents that have had their date altered to 1815. Most often an 1813 cent has been used for this purpose although other Classic Head dates and later large cents are occasionally seen. [ATTACH=full]1139295[/ATTACH] The 1816 large cent was the only coin bearing that date that the United States Mint issued. [ATTACH=full]1139296[/ATTACH] I have never been a great admirer of the Matron Head Large Cent design, but in this case, I will make an exception. This beautiful coin undoubtedly came from the Randall Hoard.       In 1816 Chief Engraver, Robert Scott re-designed the large cent. Scott’s design, which is known as the Matron Head featured an older, middle aged woman wearing a crown with “LIBERTY” across its headband. Many collectors find this design less attractive than the earlier large cents. Many Mint State examples of this design dated from 1816 and 1820 are available in large quantities from the famous Randall Hoard which appeared in the mid 1860s. The hoard, which may have contained as many has 30,000 large cents in Mint State or near Mint State condition, was dispersed by coin dealer J. S. Randall in the 1860s and ‘70s. [ATTACH=full]1139297[/ATTACH] Type collectors lump the large cents from 1816 to 1839 into one group that they call "the Matron Heads." By the mid 1830's the bust of Ms. Liberty had been modified to considerable extent. [ATTACH=full]1139298[/ATTACH] The placement of the bust and the date on this 1841 large cent is interesting. Christian Gobrecht gave his gold coins of the period a similar look.       The design of the large cent would not change radically for the rest of the series although there would be many minor modifications to the design until the series ended in 1857. In the mid 1835, mint engraver Christian Gobrecht introduced the first of many minor alterations to the large cent design. Gobrecht’s new Ms. Liberty was younger and slimmer than her predecessor and in the opinion of many, more attractive. In 1839 Gobrecht completed his design modification program with a number of subtypes that include such colorful names as the “booby head” and the “silly head.” Collectors still use these nicknames, which were the product of coin dealers’ imaginations in the 1860s. At the end of 1939 Gobrecht’s final motif, the Braided Hair design (1839 – 1857), would become the model for the rest of the series. [ATTACH=full]1139299[/ATTACH] 1857 would be last year in which the large cent would be issued. By then the "big pennies" had become too expensive to produce.       Beginning in 1853 the U.S. mint began to experiment with smaller, lighter weight alternatives to the large cent. These experimental coins, which featured either a liberty head or flying eagle design, were made of various metallic alloys including copper, nickel, tin and zinc. These coins were made in limited quantities, but I have seen circulated examples of these coins in dealers’ inventories, which indicates that some of these coins were probably used in commerce. [ATTACH=full]1139300[/ATTACH] The general public apporved of the new small cents which were lighter and easier to carry. This beautiful Flying Eagle design was issued for general circulation for only two years. The design did not strike up well. The eagle's head and more often his tail feathers were not well defined on many pieces.       In February of 1857 the mint replaced the large cent with the new small cents, which were made of a copper-nickel alloy. The large cent had never circulated well outside of the large cities, and the rising cost of copper had made the big pennies too expensive for the mint to continue to produce them. The public quickly accepted the new small cents, which had the same diameter as the modern cent, but were thicker and heavier.       The passing of the large cent and its sister coin, the half cent, marked the end of an era. Many Americans noted this, and began to form date collections of the “big pennies.” Soon dates that were in short supply, which included all of the 1793 varieties, 1799 and 1804, began to increase in value.       Today many collectors have gone beyond date sets and now collect large cents by die variety. Some collectors try to acquire the varieties listed in A Guide Book of United States Coins or “Red Book,” but more serious collectors concentrate on the hundreds of die varieties that the mint issued from 1793 to 1857. The early dates (1793 - 1814), which where covered in Penny Whimsy by Dr. William Sheldon, have long been the basis for early large cent variety collecting. Over the past two decades the middle dates (1816 – 1839) and the late dates (1840 – 1857) have also gained a significant following.       Over time interest in large cents has grown to the point were there is a specialized club that encourages the collection and study of all U.S. copper coins dated 1857 and earlier. The Early American Coppers Club is among the most active of all numismatic specialty organizations. The club publishes a quarterly magazine, Penny-Wise, and holds an annual convention at various cities around the country.[/QUOTE]

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