1806 Draped Bust Large Cent
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 348,000 made
- Mintage
- 348,000
- Metal
- 100% copper
- Weight
- 10.89 g
- Diameter
- 29 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1806 Draped Bust Large Cent worth?
Collectors pay a real premium for this date, worn or not, because far fewer were made than usual. Uncirculated pieces go much higher.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- Full red copper color (labeled RD) rather than brown
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1806 Draped Bust Large Cent rare?
- Yes. Only 348,000 were made, 3rd lowest of the 12 regular issues in the series.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1806 Draped Bust Large Cent?
- No mint mark. All struck in Philadelphia.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1806 are scarcer?
- The 1804 at 96,500. So the 1806 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1806 Draped Bust Large Cent coins were made?
- 348,000.
What to check on your 1806
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. 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.
Most surviving coppers from 1806 show some corrosion, scratches or porous surfaces. Smooth, evenly toned coins are much scarcer than the mintage suggests, so surface quality matters as much as the grade. Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1806
Philadelphia made 348,000 in 1806, down from 941,116 in 1805. The next year it made 829,221 (1807).
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1806 you find is from Philadelphia. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1796 (363,375) and the 1807 (829,221).
Only the 1799 and the 1804 have a lower mintage among Philadelphia's 12 Draped Bust Large Cents. Among the 1800s issues, only the 1804 had a smaller run.
Engraving errors, the rare 1804 and peak output (1801 to 1807)
Production surged early in this period, with more than 3.4 million cents in 1802 and over 3.1 million in 1803. Hand punched dies produced a run of memorable mistakes: the 1801 Three Errors reverse shows a 1/000 fraction, a single stem and IINITED for UNITED. Cents of 1802 and 1803 also turn up with the 1/000 fraction. The 1803 has small and large date and fraction combinations collectors pair by die.
The 1804 is a classic rarity. The Mint reported 96,500 cents that year, but many of them were likely dated 1803, so true 1804 cents are scarce. A restrike made outside the Mint from discarded dies around 1860 is a different piece. Altered dates are common, so the 1804 is one cent that should always be authenticated. Output fell to 348,000 in 1806, then recovered in 1807, which brings the 1807/6 overdate and the Comet variety with a die break behind the head. Survivors from these years are often dark brown with some porosity.
Some of the best-known early copper varieties come from hurried die work in these years. The 1801 "3 Errors" reverse shows the fraction as 1/000, a single stem on the wreath and IINITED for UNITED. The 1802 "stemless wreath" and the 1803 reverse with 1/100 over 1/000 are other examples. Mintages passed three million in 1802 and 1803, which makes this the most affordable stretch for collecting Draped Bust cents.
How to recognize it
Liberty faces right with her hair tied by a ribbon and a drape across her bust. LIBERTY is above and the date below. The reverse shows a wreath around ONE CENT, the fraction 1/100 beneath it and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the rim. Die cracks, recut dates and stems on the wreath create dozens of varieties that specialists collect by their Sheldon numbers.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Draped Bust Large Cent (1796–1807) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1806 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 348,000 |
| Face value | 1¢ |
| Composition | 100% copper |
| Weight | 10.89 grams |
| Diameter | 29 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Robert Scot, after a portrait by Gilbert Stuart |
Mintage: United States cent mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.