1839 Large Cent, Silly Head - 1839 1 Cent Silly Head NGC XF45 BN CAC. N-4. This dark chocolate-brown 1839 Large Cent is one of the Silly Head varieties, so named because of the lock of hair at the forehead. The surfaces are original, extremely clean for the grade, hard, and glossy. The strike is above average with several stars showing full details. Similarly, Libertys hair is well struck as are the leaves on the reverse. Only the highest points show a small bit of wear consistent with the grade, which is confirmed by the CAC sticker. Its presence indicates that the coin is a premium quality piece that fully merits the grade assigned.

Designed by Christian Gobrecht, the coin shows Liberty facing left in profile. She wears a LIBERTY inscribed coronet and her hair is tied in beads. She is surrounded by thirteen six-pointed stars with the date below. The reverse shows a closed wreath of laurel within which is the denomination written on two lines as ONE CENT. Around the wreath is the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Dentils are on both sides of the coin, and the edge is plain.

In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to William Kneass. After Kneass suffered a debilitating stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif, which was used for all denominations of silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle. 

In its population report, NGC shows 5 Silly Head 1839 cents certified at the XF45 level. At CAC, as of May 2013, only the present coin has been confirmed at XF45.