1816
This was the year without a summer. A snow storm dropped 10 inches of snow on New England in early June and half an inch of ice spread over parts of New England through July and August. James Monroe was elected president and Daniel Tompkins vice president on the Democratic-Republican ticket. The world's first wire suspension bridge was built over the Schuykill River near Philadelphia. The first American savings banks were established in Boston and Philadelphia.
Elsewhere, Argentina declared its independence from Spain at the same time the Spanish were putting down the rebellion in Mexico. A French physician, Rene-Theophile Laennec, invented the stethoscope and Englishman William Cobbett published the first cheap periodical in England, the Weekly Political Register.
The end of the War of 1812 meant the mint could obtain planchets from the British firm of Boulton. The first delivery of planchets arrived in late 1815 and some cents were struck before the turn of the year. It is unknown whether these cents were dated 1814 (most likely) or were pre-dated 1816. The year 1816 also saw a new design for large cents, Robert Scot's "Classic Head" style. A total of 2,820,982 cents were struck and delivered this year and it is quite probable all were dated 1816. Ten different varieties are known for the cents of 1816 (N-1 through N-10). A number of uncirculated cents dated 1816 variety N-2 are available to collectors, thanks to the Randall hoard.
The nicest coin in the collection for this year is N-2 (1).