Draped Bust Large Cent Values & Mintages

Grading tips

Check the hair above the forehead and ear and the drapery lines at the shoulder. Original, smooth brown surfaces are worth far more than cleaned or porous coins of the same sharpness.

How the Draped Bust replaced the Liberty Cap

The Draped Bust design came to the cent late in 1796, so that year has both Liberty Cap and Draped Bust cents. Robert Scot adapted the portrait from a drawing attributed to Gilbert Stuart. Tradition says Stuart's model was Ann Willing Bingham, a Philadelphia society figure, but the story has never been firmly documented. The same portrait appeared on silver coins of the period.

Many cents from the late 1790s onward were struck on planchets imported from Matthew Boulton's works in Birmingham, England. These blanks were often of better quality than those the Mint produced itself.

The famous mistakes of 1801 to 1803

Hand-punched dies produced several well-known errors. The 1801 Three Errors cent has the fraction as 1/000, a wreath with only one stem and the word UNITED with a flawed first letter that reads like IINITED. The 1802 Stemless Wreath and the 1803 with 1/100 punched over 1/000 are other popular varieties. The 1800/1798 and 1799/8 overdates show dies being reused.

Collecting the 1799 and 1804

The 1799 and 1804 are among the most counterfeited early cents. Common fakes are made by altering the date on an 1801 or 1803 cent. Genuine coins have specific die characteristics that match known reference photographs, so buy them certified. The 1804 also exists as a restrike made around 1860 from altered, rusted dies. It looks quite different from an original and is sold as a separate collectible.

For a type coin, choose a common date from 1798 or 1800 to 1803. Expect dark brown color and some roughness. Pay extra for smooth surfaces.

Hair styles and other details to check

The 1798 cent comes with two portrait styles. Style 1 Hair matches the earlier cents, while Style 2 Hair adds an extra curl near the top of the head, the result of a new hub. Both styles are common enough to collect side by side. The reverse also changed over the series, with different leaf counts and berry positions in the wreath that help specialists identify each die by its Sheldon number.

Frequently asked questions