Large Cents - A brief discussion
by Steve Estes

Large Cents have been popular with coin collectors since the 1880s, and interest in the series has grown steadily during ensuing years. Large Cents experienced heavy circulation (and little hoarding), for in the young nation, the cent was everyman’s coin. There are a variety of interesting aspects to the series, some of which I will briefly discuss.

The U.S. Mint began production with little experience and a very small budget, yet it was charged with the enormous task of creating and distributing legal tender to a large and growing nation. Problems of material and machinery are clearly obvious during the early years of the Large Cent series.

Planchets -- or coin blanks -- supplied to the Mint between 1793 and 1814 were substantially inferior to later materials. Some early planchets were irregular in size, others had odd impurities, while others were too soft.

In the earliest years, copper used by the Mint came from such diverse sources as nails; household articles donated in patriotic response to government appeal; recycled copper sheeting from England, Sweden and elsewhere; and material recovered from shipwrecks.

Defects led to poor striking and/or coins that corroded easily. The worst period for imperfect planchets is 1808 to 1814, when most planchets were soft; poor strike and porosity are significant problems during these years.

Early minting equipment included hand-turned screw presses and poorly hardened dies. Due to budget constraints, the Mint was not able to replace presses or dies until they were virtually unusable. Coins are commonly found with die cracks or minting misalignment. Uneven die pressure created coins with soft strikes in certain areas.

Die cutting errors were fairly common in the early years. One well-known example is 1794 Fallen 4 variety. Some issues of 1801 and 1802 are missing stems or fractions were incorrectly punched into the dies. In some cases, letters were upside down, and so on.

These minting anomalies create major challenges in grading and evaluation of Large Cents. When approaching early copper, it’s important to forget what you know about grading and evaluation of modern coins -- those made with steam press (and later) technology -- from 1836 to date.

Treat early copper as a separate category, with allowances for problems known to exist from the period. Familiarize yourself with general grading standards for Large Cents and, in particular, issues which require exceptions to these standards for reasons like poor strike or substandard planchets. Official ANA. Grading Standards for United States Coins is one excellent resource for this information.

Recognize environmental issues that may affect coins. Copper corrodes readily under certain conditions, especially where moisture exists. Porosity (or corrosion) is common and may be minor or major. The collector must ask “how does porosity affect the eye appeal of this coin.”

In early copper, eye appeal is a most important ingredient. Certainly the “perfect example” is desirable: even light brown color; sharp strike even throughout; minute, unobtrusive marks; perfect centering; excellent luster; no porosity. Perfect examples are uncommon and may command extraordinary prices for the issue and grade.

Nice eye-appealing and affordable examples can still be found in today’s coin markets. Be selective and enjoy the hunt!