1 Cent '1850' Pattern

In the late 1840s, the Mint was under serious pressure to replace the large cent — cumbersome, unpopular, and expensive to produce at its copper weight. Several pattern experiments were struck in 1850 testing smaller planchet sizes and alternative alloy compositions, billon among them, as the institution worked toward what would eventually become the Flying Eagle cent of 1856–1858. The multiple Judd and KM references here reflect distinct die marriages and compositional variants struck concurrently rather than a single unified type.

The billon alloy itself was quietly dropped from further consideration — American public sentiment ran strongly against debased silver coinage for everyday transactions.