1807 Cent Error List with Pictures
One recognized 1807 error has no visible date: the strike pushed that part of the design beyond the copper. Other examples need only a magnified look at the final digit.
This 1807 Draped Bust cent error list covers estimated whole-coin values of $40–$500,000. The exceptional end includes a red 1807/6 overdate that sold for $470,000 in August 2015.
Follow the different checks below to understand missing design, extra marks, and date changes without confusing them with later damage.
1. 1807 Draped Bust Cent Clipped Blank
A genuine clipped blank starts with copper missing before the design is struck. The gap remains in the finished cent, while the surrounding metal receives the normal portrait and lettering.
A curve can form when the blank-cutting punch overlaps an earlier hole in the copper strip. Other cutting mistakes can leave a straighter missing section.
When examining a proposed 1807 clip, judge the cut surface and nearby design together. A crescent-shaped gap alone does not establish when the metal disappeared.
Sawing, filing, or cutting an ordinary old cent can produce a similar outline long after it leaves the Mint.
Estimated Value
For an authenticated clip on a normal-date 1807 cent, estimate $40–$2,500, depending on wear, surface quality, and the missing area. This range does not cover a rare overdate with an added clip.
An unworn 1852 large cent with a clip brought $384 in June 2024. Its later Braided Hair design makes it a different-date comparison.
The estimate applies only after the gap is identified as mint-made. A recently cut cent follows the market for damaged coins.
How to Identify
Weigh a loose candidate before judging the gap. A scale reading below the normal 10.89 grams may fit missing copper, but wear or a later cut can also reduce weight.
Use calipers to record the remaining width against the roughly 28–29-millimeter size of this copper cent. Follow the plain edge around to the gap under a 10× magnifier.
Look for sawing lines, filed surfaces, or a sharp cut that crosses already finished details. The design next to an original clip may weaken where the missing metal affected the strike.
Also examine the rim opposite a curved gap for weakness. That can support a clip identification, but it is not required on every example.
Have the gap examined with the full coin, rather than buying from a close-up of the missing piece alone.
2. 1807 Draped Bust Cent Peeling Copper Layers
Copper can separate along a weak internal layer and leave a thin flap on the surface. If that flap falls away, a shallow missing patch remains.
This is called a lamination. It describes separation within the metal, rather than a stamping tool cutting an extra line into the design.
For a suspected 1807 example, the boundary of the patch matters more than its position on the portrait. A particular facial mark is not required.
Corrosion can also leave missing metal, but it usually produces pits or rough areas. A scrape may instead push copper up beside a fresh cut.
Estimated Value
A confirmed lamination on a normal-date 1807 cent has an estimated whole-coin range of $50–$3,000. Wear and surface damage matter alongside the size of the peeling area.
For comparison, an 1839 large cent with two laminations sold for $600 before the buyer’s fee in January 2026. That later-design coin had light wear.
A small peel need not add much to an otherwise scarce early cent. The estimate excludes the much rarer 1807/6 overdate varieties.
How to Identify
Leave any loose metal in place. Cleaning around a peeling flap or bending it can destroy the feature you are trying to identify.
Examine the flap’s side through a 10× magnifier under low-angle light. A genuine separation should follow a layer within the copper, with a shallow surface beneath any missing portion.
A coin covered in rough pits needs a corrosion assessment too. The two conditions can exist together, so one small patch does not explain every rough area.
For a loose cent without a fragile flap, record its weight and diameter with a scale and calipers. Compare with 10.89 grams, about 28–29 millimeters, and a plain edge; otherwise use existing measurements and photographs.
A flat photograph cannot always show whether a patch is peeling or gouged, so obtain a side view of its boundary.
3. 1807 Draped Bust Cent Off-Center Strike with a Rotated Back
The documented coin lost its entire date beyond the edge during striking. Its remaining design allowed specialists to identify it as an 1807 Large Fraction cent.
NGC graded it VG10, a well-worn coin. The impression sits twenty percent off center toward seven to eight o’clock on the front.
The back tells another part of the story: the displaced strike lies toward twelve o’clock there. The stamping tools were turned relative to each other.
This rotation changes the relationship between the two faces. It does not mean that the collector should turn each photograph independently until the blank crescents line up.
Estimated Value
The worn NGC example sold for $1,150 in March 2011 at Stack’s Bowers. That is one price for a cent with both the off-center strike and the rotated back.
Allow an estimated $150–$6,000 for comparable normal-date 1807 off-center errors across small displacements and more striking examples. Surface quality and reliable identification of the year influence the result.
A missing date can still be acceptable when the remaining design matches known stamping tools. Guessing the year is not an equivalent comparison.
How to Identify
Do not expect to find 1807 on the documented example: its date was never fully impressed on the copper. Check the grading label and specialist identification against the remaining design.
Keep the front upright, then flip the coin from top to bottom without twisting it sideways. The back should normally appear upright; a turned design reveals the relative rotation.
Photograph that fixed flip before measuring any angle. The auction description gives no exact angle for this coin.
A 10× magnifier helps compare the design boundary on both faces. The unusual bare area should retain original copper rather than a ground-away design.
For a loose example, record weight and caliper spans against 10.89 grams and roughly 28–29 millimeters. Inspect the plain edge for trimming, which would change both the outline and the interpretation.
4. 1807 Draped Bust Cent Mirror-Image Brockage
A backward portrait pressed into the opposite face is a brockage. The error occurs when a struck coin stays between a fresh blank and one of the stamping tools.
The trapped coin’s raised details press into the new copper. They leave a recessed mirror image instead of normal raised letters and a portrait.
Walter Breen’s early-cent reference records a full 1807 brockage. The normal face and the reversed face belong to the same coin.
Faint stray lines alone are not a full brockage. They may instead come from the stamping tools touching each other without a blank.
Estimated Value
Use an estimated $1,000–$15,000 for a genuine 1807 brockage, from heavily worn examples to sharper coins with a clear reversed portrait. The depth and completeness of the mirror image affect appeal.
Two 1811 brockages in the Jack Beymer auction brought $1,440 and $4,080 including fees. The lower-priced coin had deeply engraved initials despite stronger surviving detail.
Those later Classic Head cents are comparisons, not recorded sales of the 1807 example. They show why later damage matters.
How to Identify
A normal raised portrait and a backward sunken portrait are the two views to compare first. Use a 10× magnifier to follow reversed letters, rather than identifying the error from one isolated curve.
If a photograph is digitally mirrored, the reversed letters should become readable. That simple check helps establish direction, but does not prove the impression happened at the Mint.
A later coin-against-coin squeeze can also transfer a design. Examine both faces and the plain edge for flattened original details or pressure damage before relying on the mirror image.
For a loose candidate, a scale and calipers compare its weight and width with 10.89 grams and about 28–29 millimeters. Ask an early-copper error specialist to evaluate the complete coin when considering a purchase.
5. 1807 Draped Bust Cent Clashed Design Traces
Small outlines beside Liberty can copy parts of the design from the opposite stamping tool. They form when the two tools strike each other without a copper blank between them.
The marks then transfer to later coins. Collectors call this a die clash, with die meaning the steel tool that stamps the design.
An 1807 Comet cent shows several sets of these traces near the ribbon ends and in front of the chin and throat. An 1807/6 example also has clash marks around the portrait.
The tools collided, but the penny itself did not need to receive a second blow.
Estimated Value
For normal-date 1807 cents with identifiable clash marks, estimate $75–$35,000 from worn pieces through exceptional unworn examples. Most worn coins occupy the lower part of that broad range.
The Comet cent with several clashes brought $31,200 in August 2020, graded PCGS MS64 Brown. That means an unworn brown coin with some marks.
The price includes its preservation and Comet variety, not the clashes alone. Overdate coins with clashes belong with the separate overdate prices below.
How to Identify
Use a photograph of the back design beside the front close-up. The extra shapes should make sense as transferred parts of that opposite design, rather than arbitrary scratches.
On the documented Comet example, work around the ribbon ends, then look before the chin and throat. A 10× magnifier and changing light help separate shallow traces from ordinary hair lines.
For a loose coin, check the plain edge, weigh it against 10.89 grams, and measure roughly 28–29 millimeters with calipers. Those checks will not tell a clash from a crack, however.
A crack usually follows a narrow broken path; a clash preserves a recognizable piece of another design. Compare several nearby marks together before deciding which process explains them.
6. 1807 Draped Bust Cent Comet Flaw, Cracks, and Rim Cuds
A raised streak behind Liberty’s head gives one 1807 variety its Comet nickname. Weak steel in the stamping tool broke down, leaving a hollow that copper could fill.
This variety can show a raised crack across the neck toward the hair. These marks come from damaged steel, not a layer peeling from the coin.
A separate 1807/6 example has a cud, a raised patch touching the upper-left back rim where steel broke away. The interior Comet flaw is not a rim cud.
The amount of damage changed with use, so not every coin from the Comet tools has the streak.
Estimated Value
The PCGS MS64 Brown Comet cent sold for $31,200 in August 2020. It combines strong preservation, the raised flaw, a neck crack, and clash marks.
Estimate $50–$35,000 for normal-date 1807 cents with these tool defects, from modest worn examples to outstanding Comet coins. A small raised line alone does not explain the auction’s high price.
The overdate with the back cud is a different coin. Its much higher value is discussed with overdates below.
How to Identify
For a loose cent, use a scale and calipers to compare its size with 10.89 grams and about 28–29 millimeters. Look around the plain edge before examining the face, since a rim blow can push copper inward.
Next inspect the suspected raised feature from the side under a 10× magnifier. A pushed-over rim usually has an associated dent; a tool-made cud replaces design where the tool could no longer form it.
The Comet belongs behind the head above the ribbon ends. Compare its shape and the neck crack with a matching variety photograph.
Turn an overdate example over to inspect a suspected upper-left rim cud. Keep that patch separate from the interior Comet streak, rather than expecting both features on one coin.
7. 1807/6 Draped Bust Cent Large and Small 7 Overdates
The last digit can contain the curved remains of a 6 beneath a later 7. Mint workers changed the year on an existing stamping tool rather than restriking an already finished 1806 cent.
Two versions exist, called Large 7 and Small 7. The size of the final digit helps distinguish them, but the older curve establishes the overdate.
An exceptional Large 7 coin also has a back rim cud and faint clash marks around Liberty. These can coexist with the altered date.
Its bright original copper color and remarkable preservation contribute heavily to its value, beyond the small date feature.
Estimated Value
The red Large 7 example graded PCGS MS66 brought $470,000 in August 2015. MS66 describes an exceptionally well-preserved unworn coin.
A Small 7 graded AU53, with light wear, sold for $172,500 in September 2008. Keep the two versions separate when comparing prices.
Estimate $150–$500,000 across worn overdates and exceptional survivors. The high end represents rare quality and variety together, not a routine premium added to any cent with an extra curve.
How to Identify
Place enlarged Large 7 and Small 7 date photographs side by side before choosing a price comparison. Use a 10× magnifier to trace the surviving 6 beneath the final digit on your coin.
Look for a curved part of an earlier numeral, not a random lump of corrosion. Side lighting can also reveal a freshly cut line meant to imitate that curve.
The red Large 7 auction example has other tool marks, but those do not replace a clear date match. Do not use its back cud alone to identify every overdate.
A loose coin should be compared with the normal 10.89 grams and roughly 28–29 millimeters using a scale and calipers. Inspect the plain edge, and leave a certified coin in its holder while checking its photographs.
Conclusion
The 1807 examples range from a small extra date curve to a missing date and a reversed portrait. Whole-coin estimates extend from $40–$500,000, with exceptional overdates far above ordinary worn errors.
Choose the feature first, then match the correct variety and condition. The Comet cent’s clashes and cracks do not create separate prices to add together.
Clear photographs of both faces and the edge are especially helpful when the error hides part of the design.