1793 Liberty Cap Large Cent
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 11,056 made
- Mintage
- 11,056
- Metal
- 100% copper
- Weight
- 13.48 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 a 1793 Liberty Cap Large Cent worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1793 sells well above face value. The flip side is that counterfeits and altered dates are common, so authentication matters.
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 1793 Liberty Cap Large Cent rare?
- Yes. Only 11,056 were made, 2nd lowest of the 6 regular issues in the series.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1793 Liberty Cap Large Cent?
- No mint mark. All struck in Philadelphia.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1793 are scarcer?
- The 1795 (Reeded edge and 9 known) at 9. So the 1793 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1793 Liberty Cap Large Cent coins were made?
- 11,056.
What to check on your 1793
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- 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. Look at the hair curls around the face and the leaves of the wreath. Strong, even brown surfaces are prized. Many survivors are rough or corroded and trade at a fraction of a "choice" example.
Most surviving coppers from 1793 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. Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1793
1793 was the first year of the Liberty Cap Large Cent. Philadelphia struck 11,056 of them. The next year it made 918,521 (1794).
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1793 you find is from Philadelphia. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1795 (37,000) and the 1796 (109,825).
Only the 1795 (Reeded edge, 9 known) has a lower mintage among Philadelphia's 6 Liberty Cap Large Cents. Among the 1790s issues, only the 1795 (Reeded edge, 9 known) had a smaller run.
It also marks a change of metal: 1793 is the first year of the Liberty Cap Large Cent in 100% copper, which lasted until 1794.
Thick planchets and the 1794 die bonanza (1793 to 1794)
Joseph Wright engraved the first Liberty Cap dies in the late summer of 1793. Only 11,056 cents of that design were coined before the year ended, making the 1793 Liberty Cap the scarcest cent of its date. Wright died of yellow fever that autumn, so the 1794 dies were cut by Robert Scot and his helpers. These coins were struck on heavy 208 grain planchets with the edge lettered ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR.
Output jumped to 918,521 in 1794. The Mint used dozens of die pairs to get there. Collectors still sort 1794 cents by portrait style (Head of 1793, Head of 1794 and Head of 1795) and chase oddities such as the No Fraction Bar reverse and the Starred Reverse, which has 94 tiny stars hidden in the border. A 1793 Liberty Cap is a true rarity in any grade, while 1794 survivors are more available but usually worn, dark and rough.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1793
The Philadelphia Mint struck its first coins for circulation in 1793: copper half cents and large cents. The cent appeared in three designs in a single year, from the Chain reverse to the Wreath reverse and then to the Liberty Cap, after the public criticized the first designs.
How to recognize it
Liberty faces right with a pole over her shoulder topped by a liberty cap, an old symbol of freedom. LIBERTY is above and the date below. The reverse has a wreath around ONE CENT, the fraction 1/100 below and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the rim. Early coins have an edge lettered ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR; later coins are plain-edged and thinner.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Liberty Cap Large Cent (1793–1796) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1793 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 11,056 |
| Face value | 1¢ |
| Composition | 100% copper |
| Weight | 13.48 grams |
| Diameter | 29 mm |
| Edge | Lettered ("ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR") or plain |
| Designer | Joseph Wright; later dies by Robert Scot and John Smith Gardner |
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.