Braided Hair Coronet Head Cents 1839-1857

About This Series

Serving as the grand finale of America's large cent era, Gobrecht's Braided Hair design represented the mature evolution of the Coronet Head type, featuring Liberty's hair in an elaborate braided arrangement beneath a coronet inscribed LIBERTY. Produced for nineteen years at Philadelphia, these were the last large copper cents before the denomination's discontinuation in favor of the smaller Flying Eagle cent in 1857. The shift was driven by rising copper costs — by the 1850s, each cent cost nearly as much to manufacture as its face value. The 1857 final year is particularly sought after as a type coin marking the end of an era begun in 1793. Most dates are available in worn condition from heavy commercial use as the backbone of small-change transactions across antebellum America. The Newcomb reference catalogs die varieties, though variety collecting is less developed for Braided Hair cents than earlier types. The series documents daily commerce during a transformative period that saw the rise of railroads, the California Gold Rush, and growing tensions preceding the Civil War.

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