Braided Hair Large Cent

The Braided Hair large cent was the last chapter of the large copper cent series that had begun with the nation's earliest coinage in the 1790s. Its refined portrait, with Liberty's hair gathered in a braid beneath a coronet, replaced the Young Head Coronet design in 1839 and ran until large cents were discontinued in 1857.

Collectors often pursue this series as the capstone to a large cent type set, and it also offers accessible common dates alongside a handful of scarcer issues tied to lower mintages in the mid-1850s as the Mint began transitioning toward a smaller cent.

Chief engraver Christian Gobrecht refined the coronet portrait once more in 1839, producing the Braided Hair style that gave Liberty a more mature, classical appearance with tightly braided hair. The design continued largely unchanged for nearly two decades.

By the mid-1850s, the large, unwieldy copper cent was increasingly unpopular in commerce, and rising copper prices made it costly to produce. Congress authorized a smaller cent in 1857, and large cent production ended that year, closing out more than sixty years of large copper cent coinage in the United States.

The obverse shows Liberty facing left with hair pulled back into a braid, wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY, with stars around the border and the date below. The reverse displays a wreath, typically with a shield above the ribbon knot in later years, encircling ONE CENT, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the rim.

The coin retains the traditional large cent diameter of about 28–29 millimeters. Minor design changes occurred over the run, including adjustments to the wreath type and the addition of a small shield above the ribbon starting in 1843, which collectors use to help classify varieties.

Because this was the last large cent type, well-preserved, high-grade examples are relatively more obtainable than for earlier large cent designs, since more coins from the 1840s and 1850s survived in better condition.

Most dates in this series are common and affordable in circulated grades, making it a popular way to complete a large cent type collection without high cost. A few dates from the mid-1850s are scarcer due to lower mintages as large cent production wound down.

As with other copper coins, originality of surface color and absence of cleaning or corrosion matter a great deal to value, and choice, glossy uncirculated examples can bring strong premiums over typical circulated pieces.