Posted 14 years ago
valleyboy
(27 items)
This is an 1842 large U.S. cent. These coins were issued from 1793 to 1857, when they were replaced by the small cent. The large cent went through a handful of different designs; this one has "Braided Hair" Lady Liberty on the front, with a wreath encircling "ONE CENT" on the back, surrounded by "United States of America." As our coin salesman suggested, Lincoln could have used this coin!
There are two varieties of the 1842 large cent: small date and large date. Your coin is a Large Date example.
When the small cent debuted in 1857, the public didn't shed any tears over losing the large cent. A contemporary account told of how the large cents were "bulky and burdensome to carry." It also amusingly stated that "ladies" would not touch the coins without first wearing gloves. Apparently handling the copper coins would make their fingers "stink" real bad. I posted something a year ago about this on my blog at http://thenumismatist-coincollector.blogspot.com/2009/07/large-cents-of-smell.html
cool, thanks for the info!
1842 large cent value please .
value please?
nancy, please post pictures of you large cent so it can be valued.