Indian Head cent

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The Indian Head one-cent coin was produced by the United States Mint from 1859 to 1909. It was designed by James Barton Longacre, the engraver at the Philadelphia Mint.

This 1894 Indian Head Cent was graded as a MS65-Red by the PCGS grading service.

The obverse of the coin shows "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", the head of a Native American wearing a feather head dress, and the year of production. The word "LIBERTY" appears on the band of the head dress. Though not mentioned in the Treasury's modern-day records, the use of "LIBERTY" on the head dress at that time meant the figure was Liberty depicted as a Native American; nearly all regular coins at that time depicted Liberty. The same concept was used nearly 150 years later for the Sacagawea dollar, since there are no known portraits of Sacagawea.

The coin's reverse side shows "ONE CENT" within an oak wreath (a laurel wreath before 1860), with three arrows inserted under the ribbon that binds the two branches of the wreath. Between the ends of the branches is the shield of the United States (which was not in the original design and did not appear on the coin until 1860).

1 Composition
2 History
3 Production
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Composition

The coins struck between 1859 and 1864 contained 88% copper and 12% nickel, as required by law. In 1864, the alloy changed to 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc, and the weight of the coins was reduced from 72 grains to 48 grains. (This weight continued for copper-alloy U.S. pennies until the 1982 introduction of the current copper-plated zinc penny, which weighs 38.6 grains, or 2.5g.) Research in 1863 had indicated that bronze was an excellent alloy for minor coins, and so the copper-nickel alloy was discontinued. Another possible contributing factor for the alloy change was the whitish color of the early cents, which combined with their size was enough to confuse many merchants into thinking they were dimes, much as more recent cashiers shunned the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin (minted 1979-1981 and again in 1999) for having dimensions and appearance similar to a quarter.

In any event, total production of the Indian Head cent was 1,849,648,000 pieces. The 1909-S had the lowest mintage, only 352,000. It is not considered as scarce as the 1877 issue, (852,500), since less of those were kept, particularly in the higher grades.

[edit] History

The Director of the Mint, James Ross Snowden, wrote a letter on November 4, 1858, to Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb, suggesting that a change be made in the design of the Flying Eagle cent. He pointed out that the relief of that coin was too high, and that the design did not seem too acceptable to the public. Snowden submitted models for a new design, and Secretary Cobb gave his approval to what later became the Indian Head Cent.

According to records at the United States Mint, the design of the Indian Head cent became official on January 1, 1859, and was first released into circulation early that year. When the coin was first produced, Longacre's initials did not appear on the coin, but beginning in 1864, a small "L" was added to the ribbon of the headress, thus making two varieties for that year.

There is a popular rumor about the design of this coin, which states that Mr. Longacre used his daughter Sarah as his model for the Indian likeness on the cent. Unfortunately, this information has not been authenticated in United States Mint files.

Indian Head cents were hoarded during the Civil War, which prompted the minting and usage of Civil War tokens by private merchants and citizens. In response, the metal content of the cent was changed from a copper-nickel alloy to one of almost pure copper in 1864.

Except for a minor design change in 1886 the series continued without major varieties from 1859 to 1909. There is a slight variation in date design in 1873, and a well known overdate (1869 over 68). Most dates are available in lower grades for relatively low cost, and are quite cheap from the 1880s on.

[edit] Production

Initially, the production of the five-cent nickel and the one-cent bronze coin was limited by law to the Philadelphia Mint. An Act of Congress passed on April 24, 1906, provided for the making of these denominations at other Mint facilities.

The manufacture of the Indian Head cent at the San Francisco Mint in November 1908 marked the first time this denomination of coins was minted outside of Philadelphia. These San Francisco-minted Indian Head Cents bear the "S" mint mark beneath the ribbon of the wreath on the reverse. One-cent coin production did not begin at the Denver Mint until 1911, during the third year of the Lincoln cent design.