1820 Large Date

The 1820 Large Date large cent uses the standard taller numeral punches for the date. The variety is the more commonly encountered of the two date sizes for 1820 and serves as the baseline issue for the year. The coin is available in circulated grades without difficulty.

The year 1820 saw the Missouri Compromise pass through Congress, temporarily settling the bitter debate over slavery's expansion into new territories. Missouri entered the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance of power in the Senate. The population of the United States stood at roughly 9.6 million, according to the 1820 census. The Mint in Philadelphia was producing large cents at a healthy pace, and 1820 was among the dates well represented in the Randall Hoard of uncirculated cents discovered decades later. Most 1820 Large Date cents in surviving collections show the brown, well-worn surfaces of coins that spent years passing through American commerce in an era before paper money was widely trusted for small transactions.