1880-1909 Indian Head (1859-1909) Small Cents Coins: US Coins & Paper Money
The 1859 to 1909 Indian Head Cent was created to replace the flying eagle cent that proved to be too difficult to strike because of such intricacies. Two of the most popular ideas stemming from this were the Indian Head cent and that of a body of an eagle. The 1859 variety of the Indian Head Cent proved to be very popular, as did the other cents. It was officially designed by James Longacre on January 1, 1859, and it was put into circulation in the same year. Minted exclusively in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a lot of these coins were uncirculated and were intended to be distributed to Congressmen but ultimately went to collectors.
Discount & Bargain
With the Civil War came more problems, as there was a large shortage in small coins. As the war ensued, and Civil War tokens were received and distributed, the United States Mint took notice that the public were using them. This prompted them to create their own Indian Head Cent in bronze.
The glaring difference between these two Indian Head Cents was that the bronze version’s dies are misaligned by 180 degrees. After this worked, they continued the practice from 1864-1909, still redeeming the old copper-nickel Indian Head Cent until it was finally deemed unnecessary and wasteful by the United States Mint. In the last years of the Indian Head Cents, the minting was also done in San Francisco, California in accompaniment to the minting done in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a collector, many feel as if Indian Head Cents are dire for a true collector.