1 Cent "Birch Cent" · “Birch Cent”

The 1792 Birch Cent

In 1792 the United States had no coins of its own. It had a brand-new Mint, a few employees, and a copper disk that read LIBERTY PARENT OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. That disk — the Birch Cent — was the first cent of the new republic. Roughly a dozen survive.