1798-P Draped Bust

  • Category
    Draped Bust
  • Design
    Early Copper Penny (1796-1807)
  • Year
    1798
  • Mint
    Philadelphia
  • Mintage
    1,841,745
  • Designer
    Robert Scot
  • Composition
    100% Copper
  • Diameter
    29mm
  • Weight
    10.89g
Known variants:
8 Over 7

One major variety is the 1798/7 Draped Bust Large Cent (Penny) Overdate error. This coin features a 1798 date struck over a 1797 date which resulted in part of the underlying "7" appearing around and within the "8"

Reverse of 1795

This variety features the 1798 Draped Bust Large Cent (Penny) with the earlier 1795 design on the reverse of the coin. Sometimes this is known as the "Reverse of 1796". The best way to identify this coin is to note that there are between 17-21 leaves on the left branch and 16-20 leaves on the right branch. Most notable is that there is only one single leaf on the top of the right-side branch. This identifies the coin as the 1795 reverse. The 1798 large cent typically uses the 1797 reverse and all draped bust large cents after 1798 use the 1797 reverse.

Style 1 Hair

One major variety of the 1798 Draped Bust Large Cent (Penny) features a different style of hair used on the lady liberty portrait. This type is known as "Style 1". This style is best identified by noticing the absence of one curl of hair above the shoulder (which was added in style 2).

Style 2 Hair

One major variety of the 1798 Draped Bust Large Cent (Penny) features a different style of hair used on the lady liberty portrait. This type is known as "Style 2". This style is best identified by noticing an extra curl of hair just above the shoulder.