Indian Head Pennies, G-VG, Set of 3

Own 3 Indian Head Pennies in Good to Very Good Condition

• Minted from 1859-1909 – one of the few coins used through the Civil War
• Successor to the Flying Eagle 1¢ coin
• Originally made of nickel, but switched to 95% copper (also known as French bronze) in 1864, when the US Mint began running out of nickel
• Heads side (obverse) pictures a goddess Liberty ...  more

Own 3 Indian Head Pennies in Good to Very Good Condition

• Minted from 1859-1909 – one of the few coins used through the Civil War
• Successor to the Flying Eagle 1¢ coin
• Originally made of nickel, but switched to 95% copper (also known as French bronze) in 1864, when the US Mint began running out of nickel
• Heads side (obverse) pictures a goddess Liberty wearing a feather headdress which was traditionally only worn by Native American men, thus its nickname
• Tails side (reverse) originally pictured a wreath of laurel leaves, but in 1860, it was changed to an oak leaf wreath with shield at the top
• Produced by the Philadelphia Mint from the beginning, later joined by the San Francisco Mint in the final two years of production
• Popular with the public and a favorite among US coin collectors to this day

Here’s a bit more about the story of these beautiful and historic coins…

The Indian Head penny was minted more than a century ago and is still a favorite American coin among collectors. It was produced between 1859 and 1909, and it was one of the few coins to be used throughout the Civil War. Few coins are as rich in American history as the Indian Head penny.

In 1858, the Indian Head design replaced the Flying Eagle cent that was minted for only one year. It had proven to be difficult to produce satisfactorily. James Ross Snowden was given a number of possible designs for the new coin and chose the Indian Head with a laurel wreath on the reverse.

The new design was the work of US Mint engraver James Longacre. Though known as the Indian Head Penny, he depicted the goddess Liberty. This female is wearing a feather headdress which was traditionally only worn by Native American men. In spite of this historical inaccuracy, the coin proved popular with Americans.

The reverse side of the coin pictured a wreath of laurel leaves until 1860, when it was changed to an oak leaf wreath with a shield at the top.

Production of the new penny began in early 1859. Two years later, there was a surplus of pennies in circulation. After the Civil War began, Americans began hoarding their silver coins, leaving only the penny being widely circulated. In 1864, the US Mint was running out of nickel to make new pennies. The Mint director at the time, James Pollock recommended using French bronze (made of 95% copper) to produce new pennies.

The Coinage Act of 1864 was passed in April and made it possible to make one-cent and two-cent coins out of base metals. The mint began producing the new pennies just three weeks later. The public immediately began using the new coins. When the Civil War ended, the Indian Head penny continued to be minted until 1909. During the final two years, the penny was produced at the San Francisco Mint, in addition to the Philadelphia Mint, which had produced the coins from the start. The Indian Head penny was replaced with the Lincoln penny.