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Below are a collection of essays written by our members. Please check back soon as we are in the process of adding more!

U.S. Wheat Cents by Dennis Horrocks, June 2005
U.S. Large Cents by Dennis Horrocks, June 2005

U.S. Wheat Cents by Dennis Horrocks, June 2005

Wheat Cent
Type: Lincoln
Dates: 1909-1958
Designer: Victor D. Brenner
Metals: .950 copper, .050 tin and zinc; or zinc-coated steel; or .950 copper, .050 zinc
Weight: 3.11 grams or 2.70 grams
Size: 19mm
Edge: plain

After being shown one of Victor D. Brenner's plaques portraying President Abraham Lincoln during the summer of 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt invited Brenner to submit designs for a coin bearing a similar portrait. The coin was to be used the following year, the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's death.

When the coin was released on August 2nd 1909, public reaction was very favorable. Afterward there were usual complaints following a brand new design but most were concerns over the initials V.D.B. at the bottom of the reverse. These were then removed which accounts for the two variations of the 1909 cent with and without V.D.B. Later in 1918 they were restored as microscopic letters beneath Lincolns shoulder.

During World War Two copper was in short supply due to its use in the war effort, Consequently, zinc coated cents of somewhat lighter weight were minted in 1943. These wartime coins were not popular because they soon turned black in circulation. As a result, "shell case" cents were minted from 1944 to 1946, using metal recovered from salvaged shell and cartridge cases. In 1947 they returned to the prewar composition till they ended and were replaced with the memorial cent in 1959.

U.S. Large Cents by Dennis Horrocks, June 2005

Large Cent
Type: Flowing hair, chain reverse
Date: 1793
Designer: Attributed to Jean Pierre Droz and Henry Voigt
Metal: Copper
Size: 26-27mm
Weight 13.48 grams
Edge: Bars and vine with leaves

The cent and the half cent were the first coins regularly struck at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. The design of the 1793 large cents greatly differed from that of the half cent and was not popular.

Complaints were made that Liberty looked frightened and that the chain was a symbol of slavery rather than freedom. Consequently the reverse was replaced, but not before two varieties had been coined: one with the word “AMERICA” abbreviated “AMERI.,” and the one with it spelled out.

This coin and those that followed until they were discontinued in 1857 are most commonly known as "large cents" to distinguish them from the small cents in use today. The coins would have been even larger had Congress, due to the high cost of copper, not reduced their weight by the act of Jan 14, 1793.

Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, recommended in his Mint Report a cent of 264 grains whish would "about correspond with the value of the copper and the expense of coining. In those days it was believed that people would not accept coins unless the metal content approximately equaled the face value.