1839-P Coronet

  • Category
    Coronet
  • Design
    Matron Head (1816-1839)
  • Year
    1839
  • Mint
    Philadelphia
  • Mintage
    3,128,661
  • Designer
    Robert Scot
  • Composition
    100% Copper
  • Diameter
    28.5mm
  • Weight
    10.89g
Known variants:
9 Over 6 - Plan Cords

One major variety of the 1839/6 Coronet Head Large Cent (Penny) includes the "Head Of 1836" design of the portrait of lady liberty on the obverse of the coin. This is the oldest design of the 1839 varieties which features the liberty portrait used in 1836. The most notable feature to distinguish this variety from the others is the cords on the back of the liberty's hair are "plain cords". The newer designs featured "beaded cords". In addition: This variety is also an 1839/6 overdate error in which the 1839 date was struck over an 1836 date which resulted in part of the underlying "6" being visible within the leading "9" as depicted by the arrow in the example image above. This is by far the rarest and most valuable 'major' variety in the entire Coronet Head Large Cent series.

Head of 1838 - Beaded Cords

One major variety of the 1839 Coronet Head Large Cent (Penny) includes the "Head Of 1838" design of the portrait of lady liberty on the obverse of the coin. This is the older design from the previous year which lacks the additional lock of hair that was included on the forehead of the liberty in the newer 1839 designs.

Silly Head

One major variety of the 1839 Coronet Head Large Cent (Penny) includes the "Silly Head" design of the portrait of lady liberty on the obverse of the coin. This is one of the newer designs of the liberty head introduced in 1839. This coin can be best identified by the addition of a lock of hair on the forehead and also the raising of the hair line above the "LIBERTY" crown. Unlike the "Booby Head" design - there is no shoulder tip featured on the "Silly Head" variety.

Booby Head

One major variety of the 1839 Coronet Head Large Cent (Penny) includes the "Booby Head" design of the portrait of lady liberty on the obverse of the coin. This is one of the newer designs of the liberty head introduced in 1839. This coin can be best identified by the addition of a lock of hair on the forehead and also the raising of the hair line above the "LIBERTY" crown. The most recognizable feature is the addition of the shoulder tip on the liberty portrait which was not included in the "Silly Head" design. Another easy way to distinguish the difference between the Silly Head vs Booby Head is by observing the number of beads on the first strand of beads (closest to the front of the head). The Booby Head design will have many more beads - or around 11 beads while the Silly Head will have around 7 beads.