1801 Draped Bust Large Cent
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 1,362,837 made
- Mintage
- 1,362,837
- Metal
- 100% copper
- Weight
- 10.89 g
- Diameter
- 29 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1801 Draped Bust Large Cent worth?
It's scarcer than a typical date, so even circulated examples sell above face. The best uncirculated coins are where the money is.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- Full red copper color (labeled RD) rather than brown
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1801 Draped Bust Large Cent rare?
- Somewhat. 1,362,837 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1801 Draped Bust Large Cent?
- No mint mark. All struck in Philadelphia.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1801 are scarcer?
- The 1799 at 42,540, the 1804 at 96,500, the 1806 at 348,000, plus 3 more. So the 1801 is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1801 Draped Bust Large Cent coins were made?
- 1,362,837.
What to check on your 1801
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. Check the hair above the forehead and ear and the drapery lines at the shoulder. Original, smooth brown surfaces are worth far more than cleaned or porous coins of the same sharpness.
Most surviving coppers from 1801 show some corrosion, scratches or porous surfaces. Smooth, evenly toned coins are much scarcer than the mintage suggests, so surface quality matters as much as the grade.
The story of the 1801
Output at Philadelphia slipped to 1,362,837 in 1801, from 2.8 million the year before. In 1802 the figure was 3.4 million.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1801 you find is from Philadelphia. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1798 (1,841,745) and the 1805 (941,116).
Across Philadelphia's 12 Draped Bust Large Cent issues, the hardest to find is the 1799 with 42,540 made. The 1801 is one of the easier ones. Within the 1800s it's 5th smallest of 8, between the 1805 (941,116) and the 1800 (2.8 million).
Engraving errors, the rare 1804 and peak output (1801 to 1807)
Production surged early in this period, with more than 3.4 million cents in 1802 and over 3.1 million in 1803. Hand punched dies produced a run of memorable mistakes: the 1801 Three Errors reverse shows a 1/000 fraction, a single stem and IINITED for UNITED. Cents of 1802 and 1803 also turn up with the 1/000 fraction. The 1803 has small and large date and fraction combinations collectors pair by die.
The 1804 is a classic rarity. The Mint reported 96,500 cents that year, but many of them were likely dated 1803, so true 1804 cents are scarce. A restrike made outside the Mint from discarded dies around 1860 is a different piece. Altered dates are common, so the 1804 is one cent that should always be authenticated. Output fell to 348,000 in 1806, then recovered in 1807, which brings the 1807/6 overdate and the Comet variety with a die break behind the head. Survivors from these years are often dark brown with some porosity.
Some of the best-known early copper varieties come from hurried die work in these years. The 1801 "3 Errors" reverse shows the fraction as 1/000, a single stem on the wreath and IINITED for UNITED. The 1802 "stemless wreath" and the 1803 reverse with 1/100 over 1/000 are other examples. Mintages passed three million in 1802 and 1803, which makes this the most affordable stretch for collecting Draped Bust cents.
How to recognize it
Liberty faces right with her hair tied by a ribbon and a drape across her bust. LIBERTY is above and the date below. The reverse shows a wreath around ONE CENT, the fraction 1/100 beneath it and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the rim. Die cracks, recut dates and stems on the wreath create dozens of varieties that specialists collect by their Sheldon numbers.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Draped Bust Large Cent (1796–1807) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1801 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 1,362,837 |
| Face value | 1¢ |
| Composition | 100% copper |
| Weight | 10.89 grams |
| Diameter | 29 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Robert Scot, after a portrait by Gilbert Stuart |
Mintage: United States cent mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.