Finally, the one cent denomination found some stability in design with the arrival of the Matron Head or Coronet Head Large Cents. However, the design was adopted following a one-year hiatus in all cent production, which resulted from a disruption in the supply of planchets due to the War of 1812. With the planchet supply resumed, a new design by Robert Scot was adopted for the Coronet Head Large Cent with an alternate rendition of Liberty.
While some may feel that the design was not a vast improvement from earlier large cent designs, the Coronet Head design did stand the test of time. It remained in use for three decades, plus an additional three years following some modifications performed by Christian Gobrecht. The obverse featured a peculiar portrait of Liberty facing left, wearing a headband, with a pattern of stars surrounding her and the date below. The reverse contained a wreath carried over from the previous series, with “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” surrounding the design and “ONE CENT” within the center. The design was modified in 1836 to feature Gobrecht’s “young head” of Liberty design.
Production occurred in large quantities for most years in the series, with some notable exceptions. All coins were struck on planchets of pure copper, each weighing 10.89 grams and having a diameter of approximately 29 millimeters.
Coronet Head Cent Notes:
- The Coronet Head Cent had 24 different date issues that were minted between 1816 and 1839. During this time, total production reached a total of 62,823,073 pieces struck.
- The lowest reported mintage occurred for the 1821 Coronet Head Large Cent with 389,000 pieces struck, although a lower unreported mintage is suspected to have occurred for the 1823 Coronet Head Large Cent.
- The highest mintage occurred in 1838 with 6,370,200 pieces struck.
- Average production per year was 2,731,438 pieces struck.
Coronet Head Cent Mintages:
| Issue | Mintage |
|---|---|
| 1816 | 2,820,982 |
| 1817 | 3,948,400 |
| 1818 | 3,167,000 |
| 1819 | 2,671,000 |
| 1820 | 4,407,550 |
| 1821 | 389,000 |
| 1822 | 2,072,339 |
| 1823 | Unknown |
| 1824 | 1,262,000 |
| 1825 | 1,461,100 |
| 1826 | 1,517,425 |
| 1827 | 2,357,732 |
| 1828 | 2,260,624 |
| 1829 | 1,414,500 |
| 1830 | 1,711,500 |
| 1831 | 3,359,260 |
| 1832 | 2,362,000 |
| 1833 | 2,739,000 |
| 1834 | 1,855,100 |
| 1835 | 3,878,400 |
| 1836 | 2,111,000 |
| 1837 | 5,558,300 |
| 1838 | 6,370,200 |
| 1839 | 3,128,661 |
