Large Cent Type Set (Question, And Progress So Far)

Very impressive set. The 1818 and 1839 issues stand out particularly.

there are sort of an endless pile of types if you really want to go deeper. hand made dies means the coins are all somewhat unique.

here are some off the top of my head. my list isn't exhaustive.

1793 has 2 major reverse styles (chain and wreath) and 3 head styles (chain, wreath with flowing hair, liberty cap). 1794 has 3 head styles (heads of 93, 94, and 95). 1795 has the jefferson head (not a mint product but its part of the set). there are different reverse designs for 1795, 1796 and 1797. draped bust cents have 2 different styles of hair.

there are a bunch of edge treatments that are pretty interesting but not generally collected as part of the type. there are vine and bar edges, lettered edges, reeded edges, gripped edges, plain edges and so on an so forth.

coronets have several different fonts and letter sizes. there is the 15 star obverse. century letters, medium letters, large letters. the head changes in 1835, and again in 1836, 37 and 39. you talk about 1839.

late dates have 2 head styles. 1839-1843 has the petite head and then they transition to the mature head.

there are more variations.

most people do - draped bust, classic, coronet, braided hair and call it a day. its how albums like the dansco 7070 have the set. they leave liberty cap and flowing hair variants off for scarcity and financial reasons.

if I were going to collect large cent type I think my list would look something like:
chain, wreath, liberty cap head of 94 with lettered edge, liberty cap head of 1795 with plain edge, draped bust, classic head, coronet, head of 35, head of 38, booby, silly, petite, and mature head.

you can have one large cent and cover the type or you can find yourself spending a lifetime tracking down every single variation.

I have always liked the 1818 with the full circle die crack, what a great coin.

I also own a mint state 1818 large cent. Both yours and mine survive in mint state because they likely come from the Randall Hoard. That provenance to me is the most interesting part of the coin. Here is my example:

i also have an 1818 N-10!

the randall hoard was a pile of about 5000 unc large cents found in georgia shortly after the civil war. they were quite prevalent even into the 1990s, to the point where dealers would occasionally have "rolls" or bags of them available. I remember seeing them loose in piles similar to how people treat 90% silver. today they have been dispersed to the point where you mostly see them as individual coins.

here is mine



the randall hoard is the source of my favorite numismatic conspiracy theory. this is solidly in the unverifiable and probably untrue catagory but the theory goes:

The randall hoard are restrikes.

there is even some evidence to back that up.

no specific dates or locations for the discovery of the hoard were ever made public. late 1860s somewhere in georgia. in the dirt. near a train station.

Joseph Mickley was invovled in the public dissmenination of the randall hoard. this is the same guy who made the 1804 restrike and the 1823 restrike. this is also happening around the same time of those restrikes. Mickley had purchased a bulk lot of scrap metal from the mint. in that scrap were multiple uncanceled dies.

every single one of the varieties is in its terminal die state when included in the hoard. just one example of a later die state in circulated condition would go a long way to discrediting this theory.

the public at the time of the hoards discovery considered them to be restrikes. they didnt trade at face value.

so, probably no true, but fun to think about. given the collectibility of the 1804 and 1823 restrikes I think its likely that the coins might become more popular if this theory were proven.