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1 Cent
| Issuer | Republic of Liberia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1847 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A tall coconut palm tree dominates the central field, rising from a grassy coastal foreground with a sailing vessel visible on the horizon to the lower right, evoking the settlement of freed American slaves on the Liberian coast. The denomination ONE CENT is inscribed along the upper periphery, flanked by five-pointed stars at the nine and three o'clock positions within the inner circle. The date 1847 appears in the lower exergual area beneath a raised horizontal baseline. The composition is rendered in fine detail consistent with Taylor's medallic engraving tradition. |
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| Additional information |
Liberia's inaugural coinage, struck in 1847 — the same year the republic formally declared independence — was produced not in Africa but in the United States, at a private facility in Philadelphia. The American Colonization Society, which had administered the colony since 1822, arranged the contract. Dies were cut by an American engraver working entirely without direct input from Liberian authorities, who had little practical recourse at the time.
The copper used was sourced domestically in the U.S. Most surviving examples show moderate to heavy corrosion consistent with a tropical circulation environment.