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1 Cent - Washington "Double Head"
| Issuer | United States (pre-federal and private territorial) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1820 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dollar |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Laureate and draped bust of George Washington facing left, closely mirroring the obverse effigy, with a military uniform and epaulette at the shoulder and a laurel sprig upon his head — giving this piece its characteristic 'double head' designation. A small six-pointed star appears below the bust truncation. The denomination legend ONE CENT arcs along the upper periphery within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
The "Double Head" cents of the 1820s were private merchant tokens, not federal issues — struck by entrepreneurs filling a chronic small-change shortage that the U.S. Mint, still operating under significant capacity constraints, consistently failed to address. The Washington obverse dies used on these pieces were recycled and recombined freely, which is precisely why mule varieties like this two-headed piece exist at all. A single die shop could produce numerous die marriages from a shared stock, making provenance tracing genuinely difficult.
The specific PCGS numbers cited here reflect two distinct variety attributions for what appears to be the same nominal type — worth verifying against the Fuld or Rulau references before cataloging further.