1 Cent "Liberty Head/Braided Hair Cent" · “Liberty Head/Braided Hair Cent”

The Braided Hair Cent: America's Last Big Copper Penny

For its last eighteen years, the United States cent was a hunk of pure copper as wide as a modern half-dollar — too big, too heavy, and by 1857 worth less than the metal in it. This is the coin that ended the era of the big penny.