Liberty Cap Large Cents - The Mints third attempt at finding a popular design.

Designed by Joseph Wright the obverse of these liberty coins depict a bust of liberty that was inspired
by a French Medal called the Libertas Americana. This medal influenced the design of many United States coins of this era. Liberty also has a pole with a Phrygian cap above her head. The purpose of this cap was for freed slaves to show their liberation. The reverse of this coin shows a laurel wreath with the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA encircling the wreath. It also has the denomination ONE CENT inside it.

Large Cents and Half Cents of all kinds offer a whole other world for the coin collector. Some modern collectors focus on proof sets and newer coins that are in very high grades. Although, if your focus is Early American Copper coins, these coins will be seldom seen in grades above Mint State, let alone MS-70. Most will be found from GOOD to XF grades.

Coin Specifications:
Designer: Joseph Wright
Weight: 13.48 grams
Composition: 100% Pure Copper
Diameter: 29mm
Edge: ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR followed by a single leaf.

Well known varieties include:

The beaded border version of this coin (shown at left) has beads on both obverse and reverse. Most all coins of this type are poorly struck. Therefore, they appear to have more wear on them that they actually do. These coins were only minted in 1793 and the border changed to dentils in early 1794.






The more famous "starred reverse" began mintage in 1794. This variety had a border of
94 tiny 5-pointed stars under the denticles. Looking very closely at the picture at left you can see them. It only lasted one year in production before the stars were omitted.



Lastly, another fairly well known variety is that of the missing fraction bar. This was most
likely caused by an engraver forgetting to add the bar rather than an intentional variety.


Liberty Cap to Large Cents
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