Large Cents - A brief discussion

L arge 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.

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