But not. Because this 1908s Indian—its “S” mintmark is below the wreath—is the first U.S. 1-cent coin struck at a mint other than Philadelphia. And quite some distance away from Philly, too—2,520 miles (4,054 kilometers) by air—slightly more than the distance from Lisbon to Moscow.
It seems odd to me that this should happen so late. But maybe not, because small money wasn’t needed out West in the way it was in the more settled East—not for years, anyway. But times change. A fast-growing economy and changing retail strategies aimed at a widening consumer class had made small coins increasingly important in everyday life. U.S. cent production, which had flirted with the 100,000,000-mark in 1906, passed it in 1907. (But cent production would plunge precipitously in 1908, after the Panic of 1907.)
At any rate, with these 1908s 1-cent pieces, American pennies had arrived in California—without having to travel there by train from Pennsylvania.
v.
