1818 American large cent

[villa66]

Florida was still a possession of the Spanish when this 1818 “Matron Head” cent was coined at Philadelphia. These copper large cents were replaced by the smaller copper-nickel “Flying Eagle” cents beginning in 1857, and were effectively out of circulation not too many years later.

Many 1818 cents were a part of something known as the “Randall Hoard,” a group of thousands of 1816-20 large cents—still in uncirculated mint red—found in a buried keg about 1868.The keg made its way to a merchant who as a publicity stunt gave the coins to customers in change. By then, of course, seeing a large cent in circulation was something of a novelty, and many of the coins were refused because folks thought—because they looked so new—that they were counterfeits. Oops….

v.

[Chippi]

Hi villa66,

here is my "Matron Head", a 1845 piece, coined in Philadelphia too. After the depression of 1837 and the year Texas joined the United States.

Greetings

[villa66]

That's one really nice 1845 cent. Good eye!

For years the American coin hobby was uncertain what to call these coins. The Redbook has decided on the following:

LIBERTY HEAD (1816-1857)
Matron Head (1816-1835)

[villa66]

Hi Chippi,

That's one really nice 1845 cent. Good eye!

For years the American coin hobby was uncertain what to call these coins. The Redbook apparently has decided on the following:

LIBERTY HEAD (1816-1857)
Matron Head (1816-1835)
Matron Head Modified (1835-1839): The "Young Head"
Braided Hair (1839-1857)

For anyone new to these coins, I'll just mention that American large cents were replaced by a smaller copper-nickel cent beginning in 1857 as a part of the demonetization that year of the foreign coins (Mexican and Spanish-American silver, mostly) in wide circulation in the U.S. Large cents quickly departed circulation--helped by the Civil War, of course--and coins like the examples posted here were in large part responsible for the democratization of the hobby of coin collecting within the United States during the mid- to late-19th century. (In fact, some 85 or so years of the wider American public collecting large cents later, it was a study of these old cents by a certain Mr. Sheldon that led to the beginnings of the current 70-point grading scale used--for better or for worse--within the American coin hobby.)

Anyway--again--nice 1845 cent!

v.

[Chippi]

Hi villa66,

thanks for the informations. I saw this coin on eBay (Germany) and I must have it! Some years ago, I got a 1839 piece, but it was really (really) worn and I sold it shortly again. I paid 27,50€ (within shipping costs; around 34$), was it good, fair or too much?

Greetings

[villa66]

Unless there is surface damage I can't see in the photos, this was a very good buy indeed. (About half-price, I'd guess.)

v.

[Chippi]

Hi, thanks for your answer!

Greetings