1804 Draped Bust Large Cent

The 1804 large cent has the lowest recorded mintage of any full-year issue in the Draped Bust series: 96,500 coins. Only a single die marriage exists for the original strikes, cataloged as Sheldon-266. The entire year's production came from one pair of dies, which makes the 1804 both a scarce date and an unusually simple one from a variety standpoint. There is nothing to choose between. One die pair produced every genuine 1804 large cent.

PCGS estimates 1,000 survive across all grades, with only one certified at Mint State. That MS63 Brown specimen, with a provenance stretching from a 1914 sale through Sheldon, Naftzger, and the Holmes Collection, sold for $661,250 at Goldberg in 2009 and $540,500 at the Pogue sale in 2017. An AU55 brought $223,250 at Stack's Bowers in 2013. Below that, the price drops steeply but the coin remains genuinely scarce in any grade above Fine.

A private restrike also exists, struck around 1860 from an 1803 obverse die with the final digit altered to 4, muled with an 1820 reverse. The Mint had discarded scrap metal including old dies around 1833, and Joseph Mickley or another private party used them to produce these restrikes. PCGS catalogs the restrike separately. Collectors should be aware of its existence when evaluating 1804 large cents, particularly any that seem too well-preserved for the original mintage.

The 1804 is one of three genuinely scarce dates in the Draped Bust series (alongside the 1799 and 1806). The low mintage, single die marriage, and thin survival in upper grades make it a coin that collectors pursue with the awareness that the next opportunity may not come quickly.