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History of the Indian Head Cent
The Flying Eagle Cent was first produced as a pattern
cent in 1856 and then officially produced for only two
years; 1857 and 1858, but the idea of producing a smaller
cent to replace the larger “Large Cent”, first surfaced in
1837. Dr. Lewis Feuchtwanger devoted a significant amount of
time attempting to convince Congress in using his own
composition of copper, nickel and zinc which produced a
silvery appearing coin. The coin was lightweight and
durable. Congress rejected his proposal but that did not
stop Feuchtwanger. He produced his own tokens with the
declared value of once cent. Still no luck.
Around 1850, the price of copper rose to a point that caused concern for the
Mint. The Mint experimented with a smaller sized coin with several designs and
metal combinations. In 1851 the price of copper subsided and the urgency for a
new cent went away. In late 1852 and early 1853, the price of copper once again
rose to historic levels of 42 cents per pound. The Mint estimated that when
copper was over 40 cents per pound, the Mint suffered a loss when making the
Large Cent. In 1853 some patterns were created, but still no definite orders for
change. In 1854 and 1855 even more pattern cents were produced. These patters
were similar to other Liberty Head designs of the times. Still, no orders to
change.
In 1856, the Mint’s melter and refiner, James Booth, determined that a
mixture of 88 parts copper and 12 parts nickel with a weight of 72 grains would
be an ideal metal for a new cent. This alloy would be known as the copper-nickel
alloy. The end result would be a coin that was small but thick so as to not be
confused with silver denominations at the time including silver three-cent
pieces, half-dimes and regular dimes. If you have ever held a Flying Eagle, you
will immediately notice the thickness as compared to a modern day Lincoln Cent
as well as these other silver denominations.
Finally, on July 11, 1856, Mint Director James Ross Sweden recommended the
new style. The Mint’s Chief Engraver, James B. Longrace, was tasked with
preparing new patterns with the new metal and size. The new design featured an
eagle flying to the left. The eagle motif was the same design used on the
Gobrecht Dollar. It has been speculated that the eagle design is that of Peter
the Eagle who was a mint resident during the 1830’s and is now stuffed and a
permanent residence. The difference in design though was that the eagle motif on
the cent is flying horizontally while on the dollar coin the eagle is flying at
a slight angle upward. For the reverse of the new cent Longrace choose to reuse
a design he created for the $1 and $3 gold coin. It is interesting to wonder why
new designs were not created for such a monumental change. It is a fact that
Longrace copied his designs and other designs for changes such as the two-cent
piece and the shield nickel.
In late November of 1856, some pattern cents were struck for distribution to
congressmen, newspaper editors and for anybody of influence. It still remains a
mystery today as to how many were actually produced. Nearly 300 have been
certified by PCGS and although they were never meant for circulation, many of
the graded coins are in lower/circulated grades. During this time, it was not
uncommon for the mint to re-strike coins for collectors and consequently,
sometime after 1856, additional 1856 pattern cents were produced in proof
format. Like the other patterns, many of these also reached circulation.
The new design was a hit and in 1857, The Coin Act of February 21, 1857,
eliminated the large cent and authorized the production of the new cent.
Finally, in April of 1857, production of the new cent began. They were
stockpiled for several weeks until the official release date on May 25th, 1857.
As was typical of the time, the public clamored for the new coin while several
newspapers highly criticized its design. The public traded in old large cents
and other silver coins for the new cent. Due to demand, the Mint produced over
17 million cents, which far exceeded any previous mintage of the Large Cent.
With the new coin not authorized until February, the Large Cent saw a very low
mintage in 1857 crating a rarity. Another 24 million Flying Eagle cents were
produced in 1858. Despite the early popularity, the Flying Eagle Cent needed a
change. And change it did.
Although the new cent seemed to be popular, officials at the Mint were not
satisfied. It seems that higher points of the eagle were directly opposite of
the wreath on the reverse causing striking problems such as weekly stuck coins.
As early as 1857, changes were discussed as Mint Director Snowden proposed that
Christopher Columbus should appear on the cent. Since no real person had ever
been on a circulating US coin, it was believed that the idea of Columbus would
not be approved. In 1858, pattern coins with a smaller eagle were produced but
the result was not satisfactory. Sometime during the same year, James B Longrace,
who was the Chief Engraver at the Mint, designed a new obverse which depicted an
Indian. The reverse was a laurel wreath rather than the agriculture type wreath.
Both were of lower relief. While it was rumored that Longrace used his daughter
for the design, it is believed that the face of the design came from the 1854 $3
gold dollar. Longrace simply added a ceremonial headdress, which was typically
worn by mail Indians, not female Indians. It is also now believed that Anthony
C. Pauet, who was an assistant engraver, either designed the reverse or had
significant input into the design.
Several months after the patterns were made, on November 4, 1858, Mint
Director wrote to the Treasury and stated that the Flying Eagle cent was not
acceptable to the public and that the new designs of an Indian head motif was
now ready and that the new design should begin January 1, 1859. It is
interesting to note that an Indian head would appear on a US coin while out west
the US was at war with the Indian tribes. It would certainly not be the last
time that an Indian motif would appear on a US coin. It would also be 17 years
until the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Despite some controversy on the new
design, it went forward and in 1859, over 36 million cents were produced. Again,
this was more than any other previous year. Demand was high. Despite the
success, the design was changed again. In 1860, a shield was added to the
reverse. Reasons for this change are unclear. It is suspected that striking was
not an issue as there are many examples of fully struck 1859 pieces.
Part of the success of the Flying Eagle and the new Indian Head cent was the
direct result of the Mint program to exchange old large cents for new cents as
well as exchanging Spanish and Mexican fractional dollars for new cents. The
intent was that the Mint would recoin these metals.
The copper-nickel alloy had now been in use for several years but it was
tough on Mint equipment. The alloy was very hard and caused rapid die wear. The
result was weekly struck coins. In 1863 the Mint observed that citizens readily
used private tokens made of a softer bronze alloy (95% copper and 5% tin and
zinc). And in fact, some earlier pattern cents had been stuck in the alloy. The
Act of April 22, 1864 called for a new alloy and soon production of cents used
the new alloy. This change happened sometime during the year resulting in two
different alloys being used.
In 1866 production of Indian head Cents dropped of dramatically as two-cent
pieces and the new copper three-cent piece circulated widely. For several years
production was less than 10 million pieces. A Few years were slightly over 10
million with the low being 1877 when only 852,000 were produced. 1877 is now the
scarcest of all Indian Head cents. A few years later demand picked back up and
in 1879, production went above 10 million and stayed well above that number
until near the end. In 1907, the mint produced over 100 million cents. It was
the first time that any coin had been produced in such large numbers. Coin
operated machines were making their appearance and cents were in huge demand.
Until 1908, only Philadelphia made cents. Beginning in 1908, San Francisco made
cents for the first time and in 1909, San Francisco produced the lowest mintage
ever (309,000) for the Indian Head cent. Despite the fact that the Denver Mint
had been around for a few years, Denver never made any one cent coins until
1911, the third year into the Lincoln Era. Over the course of its run, the
Indian Head cent saw many changes. And with these changes, changes in
government, etc, saw the desire for a change to the cent. In 1909, the Indian
Head cent gave way to the most minted coin in the world, the Lincoln Cent.
Keith Scott has been a collector for over 30 years. His website has
US coins for sale. He also writes
Coin Collecting Articles for fun. Visit his websites for a history of US coins,
metal market updates and news about your favorite coins.
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