The Reason Nice Classic Head Large Cents Are So Tough
Rittenhouse
Posts: 580 ✭✭✭✭
A few weeks (?) ago I saw a post on Classic Heads asking why they are so tough in decent condition. The standard myth of being struck on porous planchets was repeated. However, the real reason is that copper prices spiked during the War of 1812 and the Classic Heads were largely melted for their metal content. This is no mere speculation on my part. Rather, it is quite nicely documented in the historical record.
In brief:
In sum, the Classic Heads are geneally poor because we are left with "the bottom of the barrel".
Article here for those interested in the full story.
In brief:
- The Mint records note the 1807, 1811, and 1812 receipts of copper planchets from Boulton arrived in good order. No complaints about quality or packing.
- Papers from the Hendricks familty collection (largest copper importers of the time) and US Statistics show that copper peaked at about 80 cents per pound or twice face value during the war.
- A Congessional motion in 1816 by Rep. Elias Root (Annals of Congress, 14th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 694 - 695) notes that copper cents and half cents had been melted for their metal.
- On Nov 13, 1813, the Treasurer of the US ordered a halt to the distribution of copper coins. (Although by this late date it amounted to little more than shutting the barn door after the horse got out.)
In sum, the Classic Heads are geneally poor because we are left with "the bottom of the barrel".
Article here for those interested in the full story.
0
Comments
<< <i>Great article, is this being submitted to EAC / Penny Wise? >>
It was published there a few years ago.
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
However, I don't think it quite explains why it so tough to find large cents without problems. Wouldn't the problem ones be the first ones to be melted? And the ones in better condition more likely to survive?
Complete Set of Chopmarked Trade Dollars
Carson City Silver Dollars Complete 1870-1893http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase.aspx?sc=2722"
Jim
how many by % have survived?
tbig
<< <i>However, I don't think it quite explains why it so tough to find large cents without problems. Wouldn't the problem ones be the first ones to be melted? And the ones in better condition more likely to survive? >>
DDR, Put on your thinking cap a bit. You're thinking like a 21st century collector when LCs are a collector coin not a 19th century ave. Joe who sees these in circ every day. In their time, LCs were as common as Lincoln Memorials today. Do you fret about the handling and saving of pristine 2005 cents?
For the early melts during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, LCs were current coin and they largely circulated in major Northeastern manufacturing and trade centers. Wouldn't you eagerly melt Sac Dollars for twice face value if you could just drop them off at a merchant down the street? During the War of 1812, some enterprising folks were literally taking delivery of cents from the Mint and carting them down the street to the copper merchants.
Then by 1857 for the "Great Mint Melt" LCs were not popular with the masses. They were heavy and, due to the pure copper, tarnished rapidly. Non-collectors (i.e. most of the population) were happy to get rid of them.
Thus most of the LCs, nice or not, went into the melting pot. The extant pop of copper then comes from 4 sources:
1. Early LC collectors - LCs collecting had caught on by the early 1850. The early collectors are the source of most of the spectacular commons and hi grade tough stuff we see today. See Bowers' American Numismatics before the Civil War.
2. The family box of old coins in a drawer. Like today's boxes and cans of wheat cents and bicentennial quarters, a fair amount (proprotionate to collectors who wanted one) of circulated LCs were saved in family collections. Lower grade LCs were once common enuf that B. Max Mehl offered to sell 100 ave circ. LCs (G - F) for $1.00, noting that "at this price they're cheap enough to throw at cats".
3. Hoards. Yes, LCs were hoarded. Quite a few nice LCs have come out of hoads. See Bowers's American Coin Hoards and Treasures.
4. The odd saved coin or two.
The major sources are, of course, 1 - 3, with the really major nice stuff from # 1.
#2 accounts for most of the problem stuff. They were pulled from circulation, often not in the greatest condition to start with and then sat unprotected in boxes, cans, and envelopes. They were handled by the family. While this goes back 20 years or more, I can still remember seeing cans and boxes of early coins that had unfortunately been ruined cause they sat in the garage or cellar.
The odd saved coin or two will likewise account for addtional low grade problem pieces and the occasional spectacular find.
Any truth that poorer conditions are partially due to them being carried around in leather pouches?
<< <i>Good thread, thanks! I glad the LC collectors started when they did. >>
Wow, that's a beauty. The red luster off that image is probably making my neighbors think I'm running a brothel.
Do you think the original owner of that coin was ridiculed in 1850 by his peers as a loser modern collector?
No.
Nor did the original owner of that coin pay many many (many) multiples of face for it, either.
If he had, they'd have ridiculed him.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
Survivors -- a great debate, particularly for half cents