1799 Large Cent - 1799 Large 1 Cent NGC VF20 BN, S-189. The deep brown color of this rare 1799 Large Cent is uniform on both sides. While the hair above Libertys forehead is outlined and shows a large amount of detail, all of the leaves of the olive branch show a small amount of wear, which is in keeping with the VF grade. There are some abrasion marks and scattered nicks that are not significant enough to be mentioned individually. (The large scratch on the obverse is on the holder not the coin.)

The obverse of the 1799 Large Cent is strongly struck on LIBERTY but has a typically weak but clearly visible date. The final 9 of the date is the strongest numeral. It is also a little high and slightly larger and heavier than the first 9. On the reverse the letters ES and OF are weak. Otherwise the reverse is strongly struck. There is a small chip out of the die between the E of ONE and the T of CENT. This raised mark is a die marker for this reverse. The coin, designed by Robert Scot, shows Liberty in profile facing right with the date below. Above her head is the word LIBERTY. Her hair is tied back with a ribbon, and it flows down her neck and behind her shoulders. The bust is strangely draped for a classical design, which was Scotts goal. Dentils are at the periphery of both sides of the coin.

The reverse of 1799 Large Cent shows a wreath of two olive branches tied with a ribbon on the bottom. Enclosed in the wreath is the denomination, ONE CENT, written on two lines. At the bottom of the wreath is the fraction 1/100. Encircling the wreath is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. There is edge lettering that says ONE HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR, which is visible in the new NGC holder.

In July 1796 there was a change made from Liberty Caps to Draped Busts. Scot, the Engraver, made a new die copying Gilbert Stuarts drawing that was previously used for the Draped Bust silver coins. His assistant, Adam Eckfeldt, made a punch to make nineteen obverses to have this date. Other dies were made with the 179 already in and the final number available to be used for 1797, 1798, and 1799.

There were several reasons that caused the cents of these early years to be of lesser overall quality. Mint work had to be suspended from mid-summer to late in the fall because of the annual yellow fever epidemic. Each winter the old stored dies were put back into service. Often they were rusted and chipped, and these imperfections showed on the coins they produced. A die chip is seen on the current coin. Planchets were imported from England because the local manufacturing companies were not able to produce ones of high quality. Mint Director Boudinot gave Boulton & Watt, a British firm, his planchet orders because the locally produced planchets were more expensive and inferior. However, the ones used in 1799 came from Coltman Brothers, an American company. Mint records call them black copper because they were dark and rapidly deteriorated. In addition to inferior materials to work with, Mint personnel also lived with the anxiety that their jobs would end because of the possible abolition of the Mint as a United States enterprise. Inexplicably, later die steel improved which enabled the dies to last longer. Hence more quality pieces are known after 1801.

All 1799 Large Cents are rare and in demand by date collectors and investors. In its population report NGC shows of the 36 in all grades, there are 11 at this grade level with 1 better.