1881 Proof Cent Pattern - J-1664

Coin Details

Description

Copper cent pattern from 1881, the first of four one-cent designs produced under Mint Superintendent A. Loudon Snowden's directive to Chief Engraver Charles Barber for a unified set of small-denomination patterns. The obverse features a reduced version of Barber's Liberty Head portrait facing left, wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY, surrounded by thirteen stars with the date below. The reverse displays a Roman numeral I within an agricultural wreath of wheat, cotton, and corn, following Snowden's explicit instructions for wreath-and-Roman-numeral denomination marking. Struck in copper with a plain edge, this piece shares the Liberty Head obverse that Barber was simultaneously developing for the five-cent denomination. The 1881 cent patterns represent Barber's second year as Chief Engraver, having succeeded his father William Barber in 1879, and reflect his effort to create a visually harmonious family of small-denomination coinage. The copper composition tested how the Liberty Head design would render on the traditional cent metal, producing warm reddish-brown tones that contrasted with the nickel versions of the same obverse.

Rarity Notes

R-6 to R-7 (Very Rare to Extremely Rare). Approximately 10-15 specimens estimated across all conditions.

Cross References

Judd J-1664, Pollock P-1864