Indian head penny series#

Please note: The exact appearance of the items you receive may vary from the images shown. These historic stamps and coins are protectively encapsulated for safe handling and easy viewing of both sides. Each shipment includes two coins and a stamp. This collection allows you the convenience of building it item-by-item with a gradual payment and shipment plan: Shipments will be sent at the rate of one every month (15 total shipments in this collection). Read Less.Spanning two centuries, The Indian Head Penny Collection forms a collectible of beauty, meaning and importance. See Littleton's Flying Eagle Cent and Indian Head Cent Collector Checklist for a handy guide to completing the series. And because they were only minted in Philadelphia from 1859-1907, only one coin from each of those years is needed to assemble a complete collection. These coins feature an acclaimed design, they were issued during a dramatic and adventurous period in American history, and most issues are affordable in a range of grades.

Indian head penny series#

The 1859-1909 Indian Head cent series is a popular collecting project for several good reasons. Indian Heads are a popular collecting project The second and third most desirable issues are the 1909-S and 1908-S Indian Heads вЂ“ the only coins in the series with mint marks. The scarcest and most valuable Indian Head cent is the 1877 issue, of which only 852,500 were coined.

During the final two years of the 1859-1909 series, the Indian Head cent was struck at San Francisco with an 'S' mint mark in addition to Philadelphia. Mint in Philadelphia, and these coins bear no mint mark.

The key coins in the Indian Head seriesДЇrom 1859-1907, the Indian Head cent was struck only at the main U.S. These bronze classics witnessed the discoveries of rich western gold and silver deposits, the completion of the transcontinental railroad, the industrial development of America's greatest cities, the advent of the automobile and airplane, and the dawn of the 20th century. Introduced in 1859, the Indian Head cent was issued throughout the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era that followed and the nation's Westward Expansion during the latter 19th century. Spanning the Civil War to the 20th century Later that same year, the image of Liberty was modified and a tiny L (for designer Longacre) was placed on the lower ribbon behind Liberty's neck. The nickel gave these early issues a pale color, which earned the coins the nickname 'white cents.' The nickel also caused minting problems due to its hardness, so the composition was changed during 1864 to a bronze alloy of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc. Like the Flying Eagle cent that preceded it, the Indian Head cent was struck in 88% copper and 12% nickel during the early years of the series.

The reverse design was changed in 1860 to a wider wreath of oak leaves surrounding the denomination, with a Union Shield above. The reverse of the 1859 Indian Head cent features a wreath of laurel leaves encircling the inscription one cent. The obverse design on the 1859-1909 Indian Head cents actually represents Liberty wearing an Indian headdress with a band inscribed liberty, not an actual Native American. The Indian Head design actually depicts Liberty