Values
A large cent’s market depends on the portrait and on how much original copper is left. This page is a series reference, not a price list.
The mintage chart leaves G, VF, and MS-63 blank. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not cover the large cent. A chain-cent story is not a price printed here.
If you have one and want to sell it, start with how to sell a coin collection. A dark cent can still be an honest cent. A wiped cent is a wiped cent.
Key Dates
This page will not bold a row. Collectors ask about 1793, 1799, and 1804 because the types are short or the counts are smaller than the later years. Those dates are rows when the Wikipedia mintage list prints them. They are not a key list copied from a publisher, so they are not bold.
1823 is the date people also ask about. It is not a row. The mintage list has no figure, and this page will not borrow one from a variety article.
Errors
The early types are designs, not errors. This page will not invent a Sheldon number or a die count.
1793 Flowing Hair. The Wikipedia mintage list prints one Flowing Hair total. The same article’s narrative gives a chain figure and a round wreath figure that do not add up to a clean split. This chart keeps the one list line. It does not add a second Flowing Hair row.
1795 edges. Lettered edge and plain edge are separate rows because the mintage list prints both. A reeded 1795 is a named rarity in the article. It is not a third row here.
1804 restrikes. Later unofficial pieces exist. They are not subtracted from the 1804 row, and they are not their own mintage.
1815 and 1823. Not in the mintage list. Altered dates and restrikes are not circulation rows.
Compare the coin to the NGC Coin Explorer large cent pages. We do not host their plates.
Varieties
Flowing Hair through Braided Hair share this page on purpose. Early dates are attributed by Sheldon numbers. This page names the types and one 1793 legend split. It does not list every Sheldon number.
- 1793 Chain, AMERI. and AMERICAThe first reverse is a chain. Some dies read AMERI. and some read AMERICA. The wreath reverse is the next 1793 design, not a chain with a different word.
- 1793 WreathA wreath replaces the chain in the same year. The mintage list this page uses does not split chain from wreath.
- Liberty CapJoseph Wright’s cap on a pole follows the wreath in 1793 and runs into the middle 1790s.
- Draped BustRobert Scot’s draped bust covers the late 1790s into 1807.
- Classic HeadJohn Reich’s Classic Head, 1808 through 1814. The plate on this page is an 1813 of this head.
- Matron HeadThe Coronet head, enlarged in 1816. Collectors call the middle years the Matron Head. 1815 stays off this chart.
- Braided HairGobrecht’s slimmer braided portrait inside the later Coronet years, through 1857.
Names follow PCGS CoinFacts and NGC, the same publishers this site already cites. This is a name list, not a price list and not a count.
Mintage
Philadelphia struck the series. There is no mint mark. When one year has two designs or two edges, the mint column names which row you are on.
| Year | Mint | Mintage | G | VF | MS-63 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1793 | P Flowing | 63,353 Flowing Hair total. Chain and wreath are not split. | — | — | — |
| 1793 | P Cap | 11,056 Liberty Cap. A second 1793 row. | — | — | — |
| 1794 | P | 918,521 | — | — | — |
| 1795 | P Lettered | 37,000 Lettered edge. | — | — | — |
| 1795 | P Plain | 501,500 Plain edge. | — | — | — |
| 1796 | P Cap | 109,825 Liberty Cap. | — | — | — |
| 1796 | P Draped | 363,375 Draped Bust. | — | — | — |
| 1797 | P | 897,510 | — | — | — |
| 1798 | P | 1,841,745 | — | — | — |
| 1799 | P | 904,565 | — | — | — |
| 1800 | P | 2,822,175 | — | — | — |
| 1801 | P | 1,362,837 | — | — | — |
| 1802 | P | 3,435,100 | — | — | — |
| 1803 | P | 3,131,691 | — | — | — |
| 1804 | P | 96,500 | — | — | — |
| 1805 | P | 941,116 | — | — | — |
| 1806 | P | 348,000 | — | — | — |
| 1807 | P | 829,221 | — | — | — |
| 1808 | P | 1,007,000 Classic Head. 1815 is not in the list. | — | — | — |
| 1809 | P | 222,867 Classic Head. 1815 is not in the list. | — | — | — |
| 1810 | P | 1,458,500 Classic Head. 1815 is not in the list. | — | — | — |
| 1811 | P | 218,025 Classic Head. 1815 is not in the list. | — | — | — |
| 1812 | P | 1,075,500 Classic Head. 1815 is not in the list. | — | — | — |
| 1813 | P | 418,000 Classic Head. 1815 is not in the list. | — | — | — |
| 1814 | P | 357,830 Classic Head. 1815 is not in the list. | — | — | — |
| 1816 | P | 2,820,982 Coronet. 1815 and 1823 are not in the list. | — | — | — |
| 1817 | P | 3,948,400 | — | — | — |
| 1818 | P | 3,167,000 | — | — | — |
| 1819 | P | 2,671,000 | — | — | — |
| 1820 | P | 4,407,500 | — | — | — |
| 1821 | P | 389,000 | — | — | — |
| 1822 | P | 2,072,339 | — | — | — |
| 1824 | P | 1,262,000 | — | — | — |
| 1825 | P | 1,461,100 | — | — | — |
| 1826 | P | 1,517,425 | — | — | — |
| 1827 | P | 2,357,732 | — | — | — |
| 1828 | P | 2,260,264 | — | — | — |
| 1829 | P | 1,414,500 | — | — | — |
| 1830 | P | 1,711,500 | — | — | — |
| 1831 | P | 3,359,260 | — | — | — |
| 1832 | P | 2,362,000 | — | — | — |
| 1833 | P | 2,739,000 | — | — | — |
| 1834 | P | 1,855,100 | — | — | — |
| 1835 | P | 3,878,400 | — | — | — |
| 1836 | P | 2,111,000 | — | — | — |
| 1837 | P | 5,558,300 | — | — | — |
| 1838 | P | 6,370,200 | — | — | — |
| 1839 | P | 3,128,661 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1840 | P | 2,462,700 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1841 | P | 1,597,367 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1842 | P | 2,383,390 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1843 | P | 2,425,342 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1844 | P | 2,398,752 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1845 | P | 3,894,804 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1846 | P | 4,120,800 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1847 | P | 6,183,669 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1848 | P | 6,415,799 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1849 | P | 4,178,500 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1850 | P | 4,426,844 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1851 | P | 9,889,707 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1852 | P | 5,063,094 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1853 | P | 6,641,131 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1854 | P | 4,236,156 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1855 | P | 1,574,829 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1856 | P | 2,690,463 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
| 1857 | P | 333,546 Inside the Wikipedia Liberty Head heading, which includes Braided Hair. | — | — | — |
Mintage: the note under this table names the page that printed each count. These figures are not an NGC Coin Explorer extract and they are not the 1974 Mint pamphlet.
Collector-standard year/mint presentation follows A Guide Book of United States Coins (the Red Book). These cells are Mint manufacture figures, not a Red Book net or melt.
Values: NGC US Coin Price Guide, retrieved 2026-08-21. Guide values, not offers. Not melt. NGC IDs link to the same publisher’s price-guide listing.
Key date names: PCGS CoinFacts (2026-08-21). Bold rows are only dates that publisher named.
Circulation figures are the Wikipedia large cent mintage list, which cites Yeoman, retrieved 2026-10-06. 1793 Flowing Hair is one total. Chain and wreath are not split. 1795 is lettered edge and plain edge. 1815 and 1823 are not in that list. 1868 pieces are not a circulation row.
The figures are the Wikipedia large cent mintage list. The only citation on that list is Yeoman, on the 1857 line. 1815 is not a row. 1823 is not a row. 1868 pieces struck years after the denomination ended are not rows. The grade columns are empty because this site has no NGC guide extract for these rows.
Read the portrait. Then read the edge on 1795.
Specifications
These are mint specs, not what a dealer pays. Wear can take a little weight off. We will not invent a tolerance. A Braided Hair thickness does not describe a 1793 planchet. The thickness row says so.
| Specification | Figure |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 27.5 mm on Braided Hair only |
| Thickness | Not printed |
| Weight | 10.89 g on Braided Hair only |
| Composition | Copper |
| Edge | Plain on Braided Hair. Early dates can be lettered |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht on Braided Hair. Earlier types differ |
Numista N#982 prints a thickness of 2.39 mm, weight 10.89 g, diameter 27.5 mm, copper, and a plain edge for Braided Hair large cents, 1839–1857. This page does not print a thickness for the whole 1793–1857 run. Flowing Hair, Liberty Cap, Draped Bust, and Classic Head are not that planchet.
Grading
A large cent wears first in the hair over the forehead and in the wreath leaves. Chain, wreath, cap, draped bust, Classic Head, and Coronet are different portraits.
Brown is the usual color. A wiped pink surface is damage. Original red is a color call, not a higher number by itself.
Key Diagnostic Areas
| Area | What to examine | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Hair | The hair over the forehead, the fillet on a Classic Head, or the braid on a late date. | Those high points flatten while the stars or the rim can still look sharp. |
| Reverse | Chain links on 1793, or the wreath leaves on later types. | The first reverse is a chain. Everything after it is a wreath. Missing leaves are wear. |
| Edge | Lettered versus plain, especially on 1795. | The weight cut made the planchet too thin for lettering. The two 1795 rows are edges, not grades. |
| Date | The digits, and whether the year is even on this chart. | 1815 and 1823 are not rows. An altered date is damage, not a discovery. |
Circulated & Mint State
These cards describe this coin, not a second copy of the P-1 through MS-70 chart. The shared numbers live on the glossary.
See graded photos. The photos that show what VF looks like live at PCGS. We do not host their plates. NGC Coin Explorer is another look if you want a second set.
What each named grade looks like on this design.
Poor
Poor
A disk you can still call a large cent if you already know the type.
- The hair and the wreath are gone.
- The date may be a shadow. Do not scrape it.
- Shine does not make this a better coin.
AG
About Good
You might read a digit. The high points on this large cent are already slick.
- The hair and the wreath are worn to a blank patch.
- If you cannot read the date without hoping, stay here.
- A 1851 is still this grade if it is this worn.
Good
Good
The date is readable. The design is still mostly an outline.
- The hair and the wreath are flat. The type is an outline, not a portrait.
- The rim should be full enough to hold the legend.
- This is a worn coin, not a details story.
VG
Very Good
The date is clear. A little life returns away from the high points.
- Some leftover detail sits away from the hair and the wreath.
- The high points are still tired.
- Do not clean the date to “see it better.”
Fine
Fine
You can follow the design. The high points are outlined, not sharp.
- The hair and the wreath are outlined and flat — no real sharpness yet.
- The rest of the coin can look busier than the grade.
- The date should be clear. The mint mark should be too, if there is one.
VF
Very Fine
The type is doing real work. The hair and the wreath still decide.
- Leftover detail sits on the hair and the wreath. The centers are still the worn spot.
- Marks do not raise the grade.
- A regular 1851 is still this grade if it is this worn.
EF
Extremely Fine
Most of the coin looks sharp. The high points tell on it.
- Light wear on the hair and the wreath.
- The rest of the coin can look better than the grade. Trust the high points.
- The date should be sharp.
AU
About Uncirculated
Almost no wear — and “almost” lives on the same high points.
- A trace of rub on the hair and the wreath.
- Luster may still sit in the fields. Rub on those high points is still rub.
- A bright coin with a slick high point is still slick.
Basal MS
Mint State
No wear. The fight is marks and luster, not how white the coin looks.
- No rub on the hair and the wreath.
- Marks and luster decide how this mint-state coin lives.
- A bright chewed-up coin is still chewed-up.
Choice
Choice Mint State
Still no wear. Cleaner fields than basal mint state.
- Same no-wear rule on the hair and the wreath.
- Fewer marks in the fields. Luster is more intact.
- White is not a grade.
Gem
Gem Mint State
A clean large cent for this type. Still mint state, still not a story.
- No wear on the hair and the wreath.
- Marks and luster, not a romance about a date or a white field.
- A slab is an opinion in plastic. The glossary has the numbers.
Proofs exist for some later dates. This page does not invent a PR price grid. The proof numbers live on the glossary.
Copper color
BN, RB, and RD describe remaining original color on uncirculated copper. They are not extra numeric grades. The names also live on the glossary.
| Code | Name | Remaining original red |
|---|---|---|
| RD | Red | 95% or more of the original red remains |
| RB | Red-Brown | 5% to 95% of the original red remains |
| BN | Brown | Less than 5% of the original red remains |
Overview
A large cent is the copper one-cent coin of 1793 through 1857, bigger than a modern quarter and heavier than the small cent that replaced it. This page groups the early types on purpose: Flowing Hair, Liberty Cap, Draped Bust, Classic Head, and the long Coronet run that collectors split into Matron Head and Braided Hair. The half-denomination sibling is the half cent. The replacement is the Flying Eagle cent.
People like them because the first year is a story and the later years are available. They are also a trap for polish. Red on a large cent is a color call. Red from a jeweler’s cloth is damage.
This page is a series article, not a shop listing.
History
The Mint’s own presses struck the 1793 chain cent, and the public hated the reverse. A wreath reverse followed the same year, then Joseph Wright’s Liberty Cap. Robert Scot’s Draped Bust covers the late 1790s into 1807. John Reich’s Classic Head runs 1808 through 1814. The Coronet head, enlarged in 1816, carries the series to 1857, with Gobrecht’s slimmer Braided Hair portrait inside the later years.
1815 is the famous hole. The Wikipedia history says planchets ran out during the War of 1812 and that no cents were dated 1815, then a later paragraph says two Matron Head cents were produced on leftover planchets. The mintage list has neither a row nor a count. This page leaves 1815 off. The Coinage Act of 1857 ended the large cent with the half cent.
Design
Obverse: Liberty, the date, and, on the later heads, stars. Reverse: a chain in the first 1793 type, then a wreath, with ONE CENT. There is no mint mark. The edge is lettered on the heavier early planchets and plain after the 1795 weight cut, which is why 1795 has two rows.
Look at the hair over the forehead and at the leaves in the wreath. Those go flat while the rim can still look full. On a Classic Head the fillet is the high point. On a Braided Hair cent the braid is.
The photograph on this page is an 1813 Classic Head. It is not a chain cent and it is not an 1857.
People Also Ask
What years are large cents?
1793 through 1857, Philadelphia only, except 1815 and 1823, which are not in the Wikipedia mintage list this chart uses. The early types share this page. They are not six separate series here.
How much is a large cent worth?
It depends on the type, the date, and the copper. This page does not print guide prices. The NGC extract on file does not include these rows.
Why is 1793 on the chart twice?
Wikipedia’s mintage list prints a Flowing Hair total and a separate Liberty Cap count for the same year. Chain and wreath are not split out of the Flowing Hair line.
Was a cent dated 1815 struck?
The mintage list this page uses has no 1815 row and no 1823 row. Narrative on the same Wikipedia article disagrees with itself about 1815. This chart does not invent a count to settle that.
Collector Considerations
Buy the portrait in front of you. A common 1851 with honest brown color teaches the late type better than a 1793 you have not compared to a plate. That is normal.
Early American Coppers exists as a club because the die varieties are a life’s work. This page does not list them, and it does not invent a variety premium.
If you inherited a large cent in an old album, leave the surfaces alone. Copper wipes. The coin dealer directory starts in Ohio.
For the half denomination of the same years, read the half cent. For the small cent that followed, read the Flying Eagle cent.
A Final Word
Large cents reward a look at the hair before a look at the date. The first year is two rows, not one legend. The missing years stay missing.
When you want the coin that replaced it, the Flying Eagle cent is already here.