Braided Hair Large Cent, 1839–1857: History and Design

The Braided Hair cent was the final major design of the United States large cent. It emerged during 1839 as a refinement of the preceding Coronet or Matron Head cent and continued through 1857, when the Mint ended large cent production entirely. The design retained the familiar left-facing Liberty and wreath reverse used since 1816 while giving the portrait a cleaner, more technically polished appearance — the last chapter of a format born under difficult conditions in 1793.

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Design and history

PCGS attributes the design to Christian Gobrecht, who became the Mint’s third chief engraver in 1840 after serving as second engraver. Liberty wears a coronet inscribed LIBERTY, but the hair is more carefully arranged than on the Matron Head that preceded it. The feature that gives the type its name is the braid visible from the area of the ear toward the forehead, and the bust, hair curls and coronet all show sharper, more controlled contours than earlier large cent portraits.

The reverse places ONE CENT inside a wreath, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the border. PCGS observes that by this period, differences between individual dies had become comparatively small: earlier large cents could differ conspicuously in stems, fractions, stars and lettering, while many late-series die differences require careful magnification to distinguish, a reflection of improved hub preparation and die-making technique at the Mint.

All Braided Hair cents were struck at Philadelphia with no mintmark. They are copper, approximately 10.89 grams, about 28 millimeters in diameter and plain-edged — specifications essentially unchanged since the 1795 weight reduction that shaped every large cent design from the Liberty Cap cent onward. The design overlaps the Coronet Head in 1839 itself, a year that contains several transitional portraits; coins known as the Silly Head, Booby Head and Head of 1838 are normally studied together with the Coronet series, while the Type of 1840 introduces the mature Braided Hair appearance that continued for the rest of the run.

Economics, not artistic obsolescence, ended the large cent. Copper costs and the denomination’s declining purchasing power made a heavy, nearly pure-copper coin increasingly impractical to produce and circulate. The Coinage Act of 1857 authorized a much smaller copper-nickel cent and ended the old large-format cent for good. The Mint also used the new small cents in an exchange program as the United States withdrew the legal-tender status of certain foreign silver coins that were still circulating domestically.

Notable dates within this design

The series’ final year is its most historically significant. Philadelphia struck 1857 Braided Hair large cents alongside the brand-new, much smaller Flying Eagle cent, making 1857 one of the clearest physical turning points in all of U.S. coinage — two entirely different cent formats sharing a single date. PCGS reports a combined 1857 large-cent mintage of 333,546 and recognizes Large Date and Small Date forms within that final year. Outside 1857, no single date in the Braided Hair run is flagged as an outsized rarity comparable to the earlier Draped Bust key dates; the type’s collector interest instead centers on the 1839 transitional portrait varieties and the overall condition rarity of higher grades, since large cents by this period still circulated hard before being pulled from commerce.

Collecting this design

To identify a Braided Hair cent, look for the refined left-facing Liberty, the visible braid, and the compact, upright portrait; on well-worn coins the braid and coronet details may merge, making the date and overall head style the more reliable identifiers. Compared with the small Flying Eagle or Indian Head cents that followed, identification is immediate: a Braided Hair cent is much larger, heavier, and made of essentially pure copper rather than pale copper-nickel or bronze.

Grading still follows the numeric scale the American Numismatic Association traces to William Sheldon’s research on large cents specifically. Because Braided Hair cents were the most recently struck large cents and often show comparatively sharp dies, collectors have more opportunity here than with earlier types to find attractive, problem-free surfaces — though porosity, dark color and old cleaning still turn up regularly on coins that circulated hard through the mid-nineteenth century. As with every large cent design, certification from PCGS or NGC is the most reliable way to confirm grade and surface originality, especially for the scarcer 1839 transitional varieties.

Suggested search terms and filters

• “Braided Hair large cent”
• “1857 large cent” (final year, both Large Date and Small Date)
• “1839 large cent” (transitional portrait varieties)
• Filter by grading service (PCGS, NGC)
• Filter by grade range, including Mint State for later dates

Availability and pricing notes

Braided Hair cents are generally the most available large cents by date, reflecting larger mintages and a shorter time in circulation before the series ended. The final 1857 date — especially in higher, problem-free grades — draws particular collector demand given its role marking the end of large cent production and the beginning of the small cent era. Transitional 1839 varieties can carry premiums over the common Type of 1840 portrait of the same date.

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1. Search for the coin. Enter “Braided Hair Large Cent” — or a specific date like “1857 large cent” — to search participating dealer inventory.
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Frequently asked questions

Why is the Braided Hair cent considered the final large cent?

Its production ended in 1857 when the Coinage Act of 1857 authorized a much smaller copper-nickel cent, the Flying Eagle cent, ending the large-format copper cent that had run continuously, in various designs, since 1793.

What happened in 1857 specifically?

The Philadelphia Mint struck Braided Hair large cents and the new small Flying Eagle cent in the same year, making 1857 one of the clearest physical turning points in the history of the U.S. cent.

Why did the large cent format end?

Economics, not design. Rising copper costs and the coin’s declining purchasing power made a heavy, nearly pure-copper cent increasingly impractical, prompting Congress to authorize a smaller copper-nickel format.

How do I tell a Braided Hair cent apart from later cents at a glance?

Size and metal are the fastest clues. A Braided Hair cent is significantly larger and heavier than the small cents that followed, and it is struck in essentially pure copper rather than the copper-nickel or bronze alloys used afterward.

What replaced the Braided Hair cent?

The copper-nickel Flying Eagle cent took over large-scale production starting in 1857, and James B. Longacre’s Indian Head design replaced it in 1859 — covered in detail across GetCoinHunt’s year-by-year Indian Head cent guides.

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