1795 Liberty Cap Cent

About This Coin

The 1795 Liberty Cap Cent is a United States cent from the Liberty Cap Cents 1793-1796 series. The obverse features Liberty facing right with a Phrygian cap on a pole behind her head, symbolizing freedom, while the reverse displays a wreath enclosing ONE CENT and 1/100 of a dollar. Designed by Joseph Wright (1793), John Smith Gardner / Robert Scot (1794-1796). Struck in copper, 28 mm in diameter. The Liberty Cap design replaced the Wreath Cent in late 1793, introducing the Phrygian cap — a powerful symbol of liberty drawn from French Revolutionary iconography. Joseph Wright, who designed the 1793 version, died of yellow fever that same year. The 1793 Liberty Cap Cent is extremely rare. The 1794-1796 versions by Scot are more available but remain highly prized by type collectors.