1839 Large Cent - 1839 Large Cent, Booby Head, N-5, R3, PCGS MS63 BN, CAC. This eye-appealing 1839 Large Cent has light brown fields with darker brown outlining the devices. The presence of these colors proves the coins originality. The surfaces are clean for the grade, hard and glossy, with no individually distracting abrasion marks or other disturbances. The strike is bold with full details on the centers of the stars, Libertys hair, and the elements of the wreath. The bow is particularly strong. The dentils are complete on both sides and especially strong on the obverse. The CAC sticker tells us that the coin is a premium quality piece that fully deserves the grade that was given.

The coin is the N-5 variety. It is a Booby Head identified by the beaded hair cords, strong brow lock, exposed shoulder, and the broken curl in front of the ear. The left base of the L in LIBERTY is away from the coronet line, and Star 9 is recut on its lowest inner point. The reverse shows no line under CENT. The berry under the TED of UNITED is long and thin coming out of a loop rather than directly from the stem. There is no inner berry to the right of the T in CENT. The outer leaf of the IC in AMERICA folds down over the leaf below it.

Designed by Christian Gobrecht, the coin shows Liberty facing left in profile. She wears a LIBERTY inscribed coronet and her hair is tied in beads. She is surrounded by thirteen six-pointed stars with the date below. The reverse shows a closed wreath of laurel within which is the denomination written on two lines as ONE CENT. Around the wreath is the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Dentils are on both sides of the coin, and the edge is plain.

Gobrecht was the third Chief Engraver at the United States Mint. He was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania in 1785. His father was a German immigrant, and his mother traced her ancestry to the early settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Gobrecht married Mary Hewes in 1818. One of his early positions was as an engraver of clocks in Baltimore. Later he went to Philadelphia where he became a banknote engraver. He invented a machine that allowed one to convert a three-dimensional medal into an illustration. This was an excellent job and Gobrecht was understandably reluctant to work for the Mint for less money than he was making at the engraving firm.

In order to persuade him to leave, Mint Director Robert Patterson prevailed upon Chief Engraver William Kneass, who had had a stroke, to take less in salary so more money would be available to hire Gobrecht on a permanent basis. In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to Kneass. After Kneass stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif, which was used for all denominations of silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle. 

In its population report, PCGS shows 3 1839 Large Cents in MS63 BN with 18 higher. At CAC, as of July 2013, there are 2 in MS63 BN with 12 higher. Neither service differentiates this type and date by die variety.