1793 Large Cent made into a Patriotic Token

Here are some thoughts for Memorial Day.

One afternoon many years ago someone decided to make a patriotic token from an old cent. A worn 1793 flowing hair cent was retrieved from a drawer and became a canvas.

This was clearly a left-handed effort. An old screwdriver was taken from the toolbox and used as an engraving tool. And with nearly 150 impressions, a US flag was boldly centered on the reverse and flanked by two stars. The rim was adorned with 45 dentils.

It was not a rush job, just crudely made. The design is engaging and precisely balanced. The flag is shaped with a gentle curvature and supported by a broad base on a hill. The letters are tidy with serifs that reflect a bygone era. Overall, the image draws you in and entices you to study each mark.

The cent was not pierced, so it was probably carried. The design is worn with a decade of fingertips softening the design. The patina has depth – dark in the fields and chocolate where the metal was raised from the marks.

Folk art like this is evocative. I want to know who made it and when. But we will never know. It could be a Civil War piece, as it was probably inspired during a period of nationalism.

Maybe it served as a good luck token. I wonder if it worked. Did the soldier survive the battle?

Some numismatists might see this cent as simply mutilated. Others might give it a glance and move on. “It is just a beat piece with bad art,” some will say.

But I disagree. It is more than that. It takes initiative and vision to produce a token like this one. There was a purpose.

And, it is this human action that makes all the difference. Coins like this are alive. This one has more to say than an unmolested cent of the same type.

This is the kind of coin you keep after the others are sold.

Happy Memorial Day.