1801 Draped Bust Large Cent (1/000 Overdate) S-223 Obverse Cud

Description

Cross-referenced as Sheldon S-223, this 1801 Draped Bust Large Cent combines two significant varieties on a single coin: the well-known 1/000 overdate error in the date and an obverse cud die break. The 1/000 overdate designation indicates the date was originally engraved as 1800 and then corrected to 1801 by overpunching the final 0 with a 1, leaving visible traces of the original triple-zero date beneath the corrected digit — a practice common in early American coinage when dies were expensive to produce and reusing dies from the previous year by modifying the date was an accepted economy measure at the early Philadelphia Mint. The obverse cud progressed through multiple die states: early stages show the cud developing above the letters IB and RT of LIBERTY, while later specimens exhibit additional cud formation extending from the bottom right of Liberty's bust, documenting the progressive expansion of the die fracture as the die continued to be used despite its deteriorating structural integrity. The Draped Bust Large Cent was designed by Robert Scot after a portrait attributed to Gilbert Stuart, struck in pure copper at the Philadelphia Mint weighing approximately 10.89 grams with a diameter of 29 mm. The dual-variety nature of this die — combining an intentional date modification with accidental die fracture damage — creates a coin with two distinct categories of numismatic interest on a single specimen. Sheldon variety numbers provide the primary identification system for early large cent die marriages, and S-223 designates this specific obverse-reverse combination within the 1801 die population.

Attribution History

• Discovered by NumisDexDealer
• Sheldon S-223