The Head Styles Of 1839 Large Cent

1839 was a strange year for large cent design. there are 5 distinct types.

first off is the 1839/6. this coin is N-1. the punch is an inverted 9 rather than a 6 but the name stuck. you can find this misidentified as an 1838 with some regularity. excuse the quality, these get hard in higher grade. one die marriage. N-1.



next the 1839 head of 1838. this coin is N-2. the lack of brow lock on the forehead is the easiest way to differentiate this from the similar looking silly head. two die marriages. N-2 and N-3



here is the 1839 petite head. this coin is N-8. this is a rather distinct head style. this design was used till 1843 when it was replaced with the mature head. one die marriage. N-8



The silly head. this coin is N-9. this is the toughest style. it can be hard to tell the silly head from the head of 1838. the lock of hair on the forehead is the biggest difference. two marriages. N-4 and N-9



The booby head. this coin is n-14. Easily the most common type. more than half of all the 1839 cents are from this one year type. note the shoulder poking through the hair and the lack of an underline for cent. 8 marriages. N-5,6,7,11,12,13,14,15.