Where are the 1794s

1794 is a magical year for large cents. There were 3 distinct types of large cents minted in 1793, with the 3rd time being the charm with the Liberty Cap Cent. This was the only type of large cent minted in 1794. Of the roughly 1.5 million Liberty Cap cents produced from 1793-1796, 918,000 were struck in 1794. While the use of a hub reduced the time to produce a die, the dies weren’t properly hardened and wore out quickly. 77 of the total 105 dies were cut in 1794 alone.

The sheer volume and diversity makes this a fascinating year to collect. Not only are there 58 different varieties resulting from the 39 obverse and 38 reverse dies, but many varieties have multiple die states as the dies were damaged or repaired through their brief life span. Few have successfully collected all 58 varieties. Even fewer have collected them in higher grades.

The provenance of these 1794 cents is memorialized on 1794 Large Cents with each variety by Sheldon type, each individual coin recorded by variety, and the known chain of ownership.

Not only does the chain of ownership show where a coin has been, but where they currently are. An analysis of the top five coins per variety (excluding those either lost or in museums) gives some insight on where all the 1794s have gone.

Of the 290 coins, 48 current whereabouts are listed as unknown. Only 45 named owners exist in the world for the remaining 242 top-five 1794 large cents. The tope 5 own exactly half of these 242 named coins and the top 11 own 172 of them.

This dimension of coin collecting is truly remarkable and adds an additional level of rarity and magic to the charming large cent.