Liberty Cap Large Cent

The Liberty Cap Large Cents of 1793-1796 are the classics of early American copper coinage.

Specifications

 * Designer: Robert Scot
 * Obverse Design:
 * Reverse Design:
 * Edge through 1795: Lettered: ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR
 * Edge beginning 1795: plain, or with experimental vertical reeding (on one 1795 variety)
 * Weight: ±13.5 grams, reduced to ±168 grains (±10.9 grams) at the end of 1795
 * Diameter: ±28 millimeters
 * Composition:  Copper - 100%
 * Dates Minted: 1793-1796

Background
The Liberty Cap large cent had a short life. This coin type was struck 1793-96, but only in 1794 and 1795 was it struck the entire year. Still, for so short a series, the Liberty Cap large cent has a surprising number of interesting varieties. Type collectors should pay special attention to the Liberty Cap large cent series. It’s the most affordable strictly 18th century U.S. coin type. The Liberty Cap cent is the hardest to find of all the 1793-dated U.S. coin types, yet it’s the most easily obtainable and affordable 1794-dated U.S. coin you’re going to find!

The Liberty Cap large cent features a serene, handsome-faced Miss Liberty bust facing right. She is flanked by a Liberty Cap (a French symbol of freedom) on a pole. On the reverse, are the words, “One Cent” within a wreath. Below that wreath, “1/100" indicates this coin is one-hundredth of a dollar. The Liberty Cap large cent is also a tad larger in diameter than the earlier Chain and Wreath cents, but not as thick as these earlier large cents.

History
Two unpopular early U.S large cents of 1793 hastened the creation of the Liberty Cap large cent. The public hated our nation’s first large cent, the 1793 Chain cent, because it was believed the chain on the reverse symbolized bondage. Popular sentiment wasn’t favorable to the 1793 Wreath cent either– Miss Liberty still looked cartoonish and “in fright.” So in the latter part of 1793, a third type of U.S. large cent was created: this being the Liberty Cap large cent. This design appears to have been far more acceptable to the American coin-using public.

The Liberty Cap large cent was designed by portraitist, Joseph Wright. He came to Philadelphia to begin work on creating and engraving the dies for this new large cent in August of 1793. His design was inspired by the 1783 Libertas Americana Medal created by French medalist Augustin Dupre. This famous medal commemorated the American Revolutionary War victories at Saratoga and Yorktown. The 1783 Libertas Americana Medal was distributed to American dignitaries and was actually a venture strongly supported by Benjamin Franklin. Clearly, the Liberty figure with Liberty Cap on the obverse of this medal, was the inspiration for the Liberty Cap large cent obverse. Today, Joseph Wright is credited with creating a truly classic U.S. coin design– but sadly, Wright died in September of 1793 when the Yellow Fever Epidemic decimated the population in the Philadelphia area. It’s doubtful he saw any struck pieces of his Liberty Cap coins.

As so much time and effort had gone into coining the 1793 Chain cents and Wreath cents, both time and copper planchets were in short supply when it came time to strike Liberty Cap large cents in 1793. Consequently, only 11,056 1793-dated Liberty Cap large cents were struck. This makes the 1793 Liberty Cap cent the scarcest, by far, of all the 1793 U.S. coin types. That doesn’t make it the most COSTLY of the 1793 U.S. coin types --due to overwhelming demand, the higher mintage 1793 Chain cent retails higher than the 1793 Liberty Cap large cent. On one hand that makes sense, as collectors see the Chain cent as having more going for it: it’s our first official large cent, it’s a type that was only struck for a few months, and it has that interesting “chain” story (the American public hated it) to go with it. Conversely, though the 1793 Liberty Cap cent is scarcer than the Chain cent, it’s still a Liberty Cap type, and as a type, you can find other dates fairly easily, and at affordable (but not cheap) prices.

Collecting
Despite the small mintage of Liberty Cap cents in 1793, the U.S. Mint made up for it in 1794. There was a huge (for that time period) mintage of 918,521 cents struck in 1794. Compare that to mintages of other 1794 U.S. coin types: 1794 half cent (81,600), 1794 half dime (7,756), 1794 half dollar (23,464), 1794 dollar (1,758). So if you’re a collector on a budget, and you need a U.S. coin dated 1794 for your date collection -–guess which type of U.S. coin type of 1794 is going to be your best bet?

Actually, a 1794 Liberty Cap large cent isn’t all THAT cheap. The most common varieties will cost you $350 in Good, $750 in Fine. Chances are, you can get them cheaper than $350, even in Good– you may have to settle for minor problems, or cleaned pieces. And remember, there are PLENTY of Liberty Cap large cents out there in the REALLY low grades of Poor through About Good. Many collectors settle for these grades, because this is your best chance of obtaining a Liberty Cap large cent for $50-$100.

There are actually five varieties of the 1794 Liberty Cap large cent alone. The first of these is the 1794 cent with “Head of 1793.” This type is often mis-identified as it takes a trained eye to spot it. Basically, the “Head of 1793" features a Liberty bust with thick apple cheeks not seen on later varieties of Liberty Cap cents. This variety retails about $1,500 in Good.  Other varieties are the “Head of 1794" and “Head of 1795", neither of which really exceed a basic 1794 date value.  A fourth variety would be the “No Fraction Bar” reverse, but the REALLY valuable 1794 cent variety is the “Starred Reverse” type, where remnants of stars can be seen on the reverse.  About 40 examples of this “Starred Reverse” have been identified, and their retail values is estimated at around $10,000 in Good.

Not as many Liberty Cap cents were struck in 1795, but there was still a healthy mintage of 501,500. The 1795 Liberty Cap is, if anything, more easily obtained than the 1794 large cent– probably because more collectors want a 1794 date than a 1795. This date also retails $350 in Good. There is one interesting, and truly rare, 1795 cent variety, that being the “Jefferson Head” piece. This cent features a far more crude-ish and wild-haired Liberty bust than the standard Liberty Cap large cents. In fact, many experts believe this piece to be a counterfeit, but no one knows for sure. This rare piece retails $7,500 in Good, $22,000 in Fine!

There was a pretty big drop in mintage numbers for the Liberty Cap cent in 1796. Just 109,825 were struck. Still, retail prices don’t reflect the added scarcity of this date– it retails for about the same as the common varieties of the 1794 and 1795 cents. In other words, the 1796 Liberty Cap should be considered a pretty good value! Also consider that the 1796 Liberty Cap cent was only struck through PART of 1796– it was replaced later in the year by the 1796 Draped Bust large cent.

Before the internet explosion, collectors used to have a lot harder time tracking down a Liberty Cap large cent. This early large cent was not likely to be in the inventory of your local coin shop. Your best bet was to find one via mail-order from dealers who specialized in early U.S. coins. Your other best bet was to attend a major coin show in a large city. Today, however, you can readily find them here. That doesn’t mean, however, that prices are going down for these 18th century classic coppers– in fact, just the opposite.

Now is the time to go after a Liberty Cap large cents. These large cents of George Washington’s lifetime simply are not going down in price. Prices may be going up, but availability is still there, and bargains can still be found if you look hard enough. Who knows how long THAT situation is going to last?

Mints

 * Philadelphia Mint (No mintmark)