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Pillar of the Community
 United States
8904 Posts |
1838 Large Cent 
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Valued Member
United States
367 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2936 Posts |
1839 Braided Hair Large Cent (Silly Head): 
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1432 Posts |
paleoguy . . no disrespect intended - definitely a Silly Head but not Braided Hair. Back when I bought the 1839 Braided Hair it was sold as "Type of 1840". Even the '62 Red Book listed it that way. Note the positioning of the beads in the hair and that "Liberty" points to star #5. 1839 Braided Hair  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2363 Posts |
Member ANA and EAC "You got to lose to know how to win". Dream On by Aerosmith |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1432 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3229 Posts |
1839 Booby Head   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3453 Posts |
Why do they call them booby heads?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2363 Posts |
Quote:
Why do they call them booby heads? NGC says "recognized by Liberty's exposed shoulder" and Wright says the booby head and silly head are whimsical terms. Interesting because I thought that in those days booby was used to describe a stupid person or dunce. I guess that showing some shoulder in 1839 was a bigger deal than today. Actually I think that some guy made up the name just for fun (sorry Kelly)  Member ANA and EAC "You got to lose to know how to win". Dream On by Aerosmith Edited by cipster
10/03/2013 12:37 pm
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Valued Member
United States
373 Posts |
I thought it was because of that big old beak the designer gave her...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3453 Posts |
Actually, that was my first thought - some guy HAD to have made that one up. EDIT: My reply was to cipster - ProfLiz has a good point as well  Edited by CoinsKelly
10/03/2013 12:53 pm
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Pillar of the Community
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652 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
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8904 Posts |
Edited by Moe145
10/03/2013 8:03 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4420 Posts |
Quote:
Why do they call them booby heads? My curiosity about the origin of "Booby Head" got the better of me today. I quickly learned that this label appears in many coin books and catalogs back into the mid 1800's. The use of "Booby Head" was suggested by Liberty's "remarkable expression" wrote one cataloger. In his "Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins", Breen wrote that U.S. Mint Director Gobrecht got his inspiration for that modification of Lady Liberty from a painting that was on exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum in 1839. The painting by Benjamin West was entitled "Omni Vincit Amor" which translates to: the power of love in the three elements. Here's a pic of West's 1809 painting (scroll down the page): http://hoocher.com/Benjamin_West/Benjamin_West.htm One can see the similarity of the Venus profile to Gobrecht's 1839 rendition. Note that Venus is clothed in the painting. However, there are numerous works of art that portray her topless; like the "Venus de Milo" statue. Might it be that Gobrecht's inspiration, ala Venus, lead to the design modification being commonly referred to as the "Booby Head?" Whadaya think, folks ... Does this theory hold milk ... water? Edited by ExoGuy
10/03/2013 7:00 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2936 Posts |
Color me "Silly" and a "Boob" for mislabeling my 1839 as being a member of the "Braided Bunch"...... Life and thread goes on...   |
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Posted 10/02/2013 3:55 pm
Because it's RARE!! And RARE = expensive!! 
