1801-P Draped Bust

  • Category
    Draped Bust
  • Design
    Early Copper Penny (1796-1807)
  • Year
    1801
  • Mint
    Philadelphia
  • Mintage
    1,362,837
  • Designer
    Robert Scot
  • Composition
    100% Copper
  • Diameter
    29mm
  • Weight
    10.89g
Known variants:
3 Errors: 1/000 - One Stem - IINITED

One of the biggest errors of the 1801 Draped Bust Large Cent (Penny) is the "3 Errors" variety. Just as the name says - there are three major errors on the bottom of the reverse of the coin. The first is the fractional 1/000 which is supposed to be 1/100 to denote 1 cent. In addition: There should be two stems on the bottom of the wreath for the two branches but one stem is missing on the left-hand side. Lastly: The "U" in "UNITED" was originally engraved upside down and struck on the coin. Eventually the "U" was reversed and the coin was struck on top of the inverted "U" which resulted in what looks like two letter "I"s - making the word "UNITED" look like 'IINITED".

Fraction 1/000

A major error of the 1801 Draped Bust Large Cent (Penny) includes an incorrect fractional on the reverse of the coin. Typically this fraction would be 1/100 to denote 1 cent. The creator of the coin die mistakenly designed 1/000 (by the way: 1 divided by 0 = infinity!). Some coins ended up like this without being corrected.

1/100 Over 1/000

One major variety of the 1801 Draped Bust Large Cent (Penny) features a fractional overdate on the reverse of the coin. The fraction on the bottom should read "1/100" to denote 1 cent but originally it was struck as "1/000" by mistake. Once the die was corrected - then the correct 1/100 was struck over it. This resulted in 100/000 or a "1" over the first "0".