By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
The Indian Head Cent Replaces the Flying Eagle
The story of the 1859 Indian Head Cent ought to in all probability start in 1856 when the United States Mint first struck small cents following a decade of concern in regards to the rising price of copper. On the time, the United States was producing two copper cash: a ten.89 gram “massive cent” that measured 27.5 mm in diameter and a 5.44 gram half cent that measured 23 mm. The idea for these sizes and weights was the price of the steel minus some small price for the federal government to provide the cash.
As this relationship was not economically sustainable, the United States Congress opted to eradicate the half cent and shrink the dimensions of the cent all the way down to the now-familiar 19 mm commonplace. In 1856, James Barton Longacre, the Mint’s fourth Chief Engraver, tailored an eagle motif from his predecessor Christian Gobrecht for the brand new one-cent coin. That coin design turned often known as the Flying Eagle Cent.
These first small cents have been struck in an alloy composed of 88% copper and 12% nickel, as required by legislation. This tough steel alloy proved tough to strike and prompted dies to fail prematurely. The Mint additionally discovered fault with the Flying Eagle design and shortly sought an alternate. Assessments carried out in 1858 discovered that Longacre’s new design that includes Girl Liberty carrying an Indian headdress would result in longer die life.
Mint Director James Ross Snowden preferred the design, and wrote a letter on November 4, 1858, to Treasury Secretary Howell Cobb suggesting {that a} change be made within the design of the Flying Eagle Cent. He identified that its aid was too excessive, and that the design didn’t appear too acceptable to the general public. Snowden submitted fashions for a brand new design, and Secretary Cobb gave his approval to what later turned the Indian Head Cent.
The Indian Head Cent went into manufacturing in January 1859 and could be struck for 50 years, when the Mint marked the centennial of President Abraham Lincoln’s beginning with the discharge of the Lincoln Wheat Cent in 1909.
Early Adjustments to the Indian Head Cent
Main adjustments to the design have been made to the cent in 1860 and 1864.
The 1859 Indian Head Cent options Longacre’s Liberty carrying an Indian headdress motif on the obverse and a easy laurel wreath on the reverse. This coin, just like the “failed” Flying Eagle Cent, was struck in a tough copper-nickel alloy.
For Indian Head Cents struck from 1860 onward, the reverse design featured an oak wreath surmounted by a federal defend. This new wreath left much less area for the denomination, which meant that the letters needed to be set nearer collectively. In our opinion, the reverse of 1860 was a marked enchancment over Longacre’s authentic design.
Using copper-nickel continued till partway via 1864, at which era the composition of the cent was modified to bronze. Bronze would serve the nation nicely for a lot of the subsequent century when a tiny quantity of tin was faraway from the alloy in 1959.
The Indian Head Cent’s Affect on American Coin Design
Longacre scored the job of Chief Engraver via political affect, having little sensible expertise designing cash. Nonetheless, he was a gifted man who realized the commerce via trial and error. In time, Longacre would go on to have an incredible affect on America’s coinage that spanned past his tenure on the Mint.
Many in style coin kinds of the latter half of the nineteenth century have been Longacre designs, together with the Two-Cent Piece, the Three-Cent Silver, the Three-Cent Nickel, the Defend Nickel, the Gold Greenback, the Three-Greenback Gold coin, and the Liberty Head Double Eagle.
However it’s Longacre’s Indian Head Cent design that we really feel was his most impactful. In imbuing American idealism with the distinctive iconography of its indigenous peoples (albeit in pastiche), he set ahead an inventive motion for United States coin and medal design. In time, Native American motifs would seem on the nickel five-cent coin; the quarter eagle, half eagle, and eagle gold cash; numerous traditional commemorative coin points; and even the Sacagawea Greenback.
For Longacre, the cent was a continuation of his marriage of Indian-style headgear with Liberty that started on the a lot much less profitable Gold Greenback and Three-Greenback Gold designs of 1854.
What Is the 1859 Indian Head Cent Price?
As with the case for all cash, the worth of the 1859 Indian Head Cent is determined by its present state of preservation and eye enchantment. A complete of 36,400,000 Indian Head Cents dated 1859 have been struck for circulation they usually have been meant to be spent. The vast majority of the problem entered into circulation, virtually choking the streams of commerce.
With the outbreak of the American Civil Struggle in 1861, cash of every type have been shortly faraway from circulation and hoarded–primarily by establishments and speculators. In 1864, the Mint had changed the steel composition of the Indian Head Cent with a lighter bronze alloy. This modification made the copper-nickel cents noticeably heavier and paler than their new tenor counterparts.
When such adjustments occur in coinage, the outdated kind tends to be faraway from circulation in favor of the brand new. Whether or not via redemption or the ravages of time, a lot of the 36 million 1859 Indian Head Cents have been misplaced or destroyed.
A adequate variety of cash survive, nonetheless, and this stock supplies coin collectors of all budgets the chance to personal an 1859 Indian Head Cent for as little as $15 to $20 for a specimen in Good situation up to a couple hundred {dollars} for a barely worn instance in About Uncirculated.
Above the grade of AU, collectors can buy solely licensed cash which were graded by CAC, NGC, or PCGS – the three essential third-party grading providers working in the US.
In Mint State grades, the 1859 Indian Head Cent is extra reasonably priced in the present day than it has been at any level up to now 10 years. In Selection Mint State MS63, examples have realized costs starting from $550 to $800 at public sale in 2023. Gem Mint State cash at MS65 have offered for between $2,200 and $2,500. On the higher finish, a non-CAC-approved instance graded MS66+ offered at GreatCollections for $17,718.75. A decade in the past, this coin would have probably offered for $25,000 or extra.
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Market Knowledge and Noteworthy Specimens
By late November 2023, CAC, NGC, and PCGS mixed had graded over 7,200 1859 Indian Head Cents. As a result of prices of certification, nearly all of the cash submitted from this date will fall throughout the higher circulated grades via the Mint State grade of MS64.
On the time of this replace (November 2024), NGC nonetheless stories just one coin at its prime grade of MS67. PCGS stories 12 grading occasions at its prime grade of MS66+. CAC has not encapsulated any coin above MS65 however has utilized its approval sticker to 18 cash on the MS66 degree (please notice: CAC’s sticker service doesn’t account for the plus grades assigned to a coin by NGC or PCGS).
As with something associated to uncommon cash, timing is vital. When two or extra knowledgable bidders vie for a similar piece, the value realized will typically be excess of the revealed “worth” of the coin. Eye enchantment, provenance, and superior options like die marriage, die state, and die selection may also vastly impression a coin’s worth.
High Inhabitants: PCGS MS66+ (12, 11/2024), NGC MS67 (1, 11/2024), and CAC MS66 (18:0 stickered:graded, 11/2024).
- NGC MS67 #1633913-002: Heritage, February 27, 2003, Lot 5181 – $16,675. Planchet voids on chin and under I in UNITED.
- PCGS MS66+ CAC #25613060: “The Neon Lights Assortment,” GreatCollections, October 27, 2024, Lot 1684941 – View. Safe Defend holder.
- PCGS MS66+ CAC #44940286: Legend, April 27, 2023, Lot 61 – $14,100. Safe Defend holder.
- PCGS MS66+ CAC #18542555: “The Bender Assortment, Half II,” Heritage, January 11, 2023, Lot 3301 – $28,800. Safe Defend holder. Bender Assortment on insert.
- PCGS MS66+ #42207965: GreatCollections, November 14, 2021, Lot 882497 – View. Safe Defend holder.
- PCGS MS66+ CAC #41948724: “The The Dayton Assortment of Indian Head Cents,” Heritage, April 24, 2021, Lot 4981 – $16,200. Safe Defend holder. Dayton on insert.
- PCGS MS66+ CAC #08426690: Heritage, December 5, 2019, Lot 3005 – $13,200.
- PCGS MS66+ CAC #84949947: Heritage, January 4, 2018, Lot 4756 – $19,200.
- PCGS MS66+ CAC #25274459: Heritage, November 6, 2014, Lot 3578 – $23,500; Heritage, January 7, 2016, Lot 5248 – $18,800. Rick Snow’s Eagle Eye Picture Seal sticker on holder.
- PCGS MS66+ CAC #25542828: Heritage, February 2, 2012, Lot 3119 – $34,500.
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1859 Indian Head Cent in Proof
Along with the 36 million 1859 Indian Head Cents struck for circulation, the Philadelphia Mint produced roughly 800 Proof examples. Proof cash have mirrored surfaces and have been struck with two blows from the dies. Coin skilled Rick Snow has written that he believes half of this mintage was launched into circulation after the cash went unsold. Figuring out whether or not a circulated or impaired coin is a Proof or a enterprise strike could be difficult and is finest left to the specialists.
Proof cash are comparable in worth to their enterprise strike counterparts however significantly scarcer. The explanations for this parity are the prevailing perception that enterprise strike cash and Proof strikes make up totally different gathering specialties and that the 2 coin types are usually not interchangeable with regards to set constructing. Within the nineteenth century, attitudes have been totally different, and collectors of the time have been glad with proudly owning a Proof instance of every yr’s coinage output. Attitudes shifted as soon as gathering cash by mintmark took root within the early twentieth century.
The Indian Head Cent Story Continues…
Be taught extra in regards to the Indian Head Cent by studying our information on the copper-nickel problems with 1860-64.
Design
Obverse:
The obverse of the coin exhibits the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and an Indian head going through to the left, carrying a feather bonnet. The phrase LIBERTY is proven on the band throughout the bonnet and exhibits the manufacturing date under.
Reverse:
The coin’s reverse aspect exhibits the denomination, written out as ONE CENT, inside a laurel wreath. In 1860, the reverse design was modified barely, exhibiting ONE CENT inside an oak wreath, with three arrows inserted underneath the ribbon that binds the 2 branches of the wreath. Above and between the ends of the branches is the defend of the US. As such, the 1859 Indian Head Cent is a one-year kind coin that enjoys persevering with recognition amongst Indian Head Cent collectors and kind collectors alike.
Edge:
The sting of the 1859 Indian Head Cent is obvious or easy, with out reeding or lettering.
Coin Specs
| Indian Head Cent : Laurel Wreath Reverse | |
| Years of Concern: | 1859 |
| Mintage (Circulation): | 36,400,000 |
| Mintage (Proof): | 800 |
| Alloy: | .880 copper, .120 nickel |
| Weight: | 4.67 g |
| Diameter: | 19.00 mm |
| Edge: | Plain |
| OBV Designer: | James Barton Longacre |
| REV Designer: | James Barton Longacre |
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Extra Assets
Bowers, Q. David. The Consultants Information to Amassing and Investing in Uncommon Cash. Whitman Publishing.
Breen, Walter. Walter Breen’s Encyclopedia of U.S. Cash. Doubleday.
Guth, Ron, and Jeff Garrett. United States Coinage: A Examine by Kind. Whitman Publishing.
Snow, Richard. A Information E-book of Flying Eagle and Indian Head Cents. Whitman Publishing.
—. The Flying Eagle and Indian Cent Attribution Information, third Version. Self-published.
Yeoman, R.S., and Kenneth Bressett (editor). The Official Purple E-book: A Information E-book of United States Cash. Whitman Publishing.
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