1885 Indian Head 1-cent

[villa66]

An 1885 cent. America’s Indian Head penny, which was becoming more and more numerous as the 1880s progressed and the concept of low-margin, high-volume selling took root in the American marketplace.

By the evolving standards of the day, however, 1885 was an off-year for cent production, with just 11.76 million being struck. (In the 130 years since, only in 1922 would fewer 1-cent pieces be produced in a year, with a total of just 7.16 million.)

And a quick, random note on these 1885 pennies when they left home for Europe, whether in actuality, or just in the minds of Americans to be used for comparison purposes when spending foreign coins. This 1-cent piece—when it was new— would have exchanged in Germany for about 4 pfennigs, or in Italy, for a 5-centesimi piece.

v.

[klaupo]

Der 1885-er Cent in Bronze hatte einen Vorläufer. Dem Prototyp in Kupfer-Nickel war jedoch nur die kurze Lebensdauer von drei Jahren (1860-1863) beschieden. Dann kam der Bürgerkrieg, das Metall wurde anderweitig gebraucht bzw. gehortet, und private Geschäftsleute füllten die Lücke beim fehlenden Kleingeld mit einer Flut von Token. Als Gegenmaßnahme reaktivierte die Regierung den Indian Head - diesmal erfolgreich und langlebiger in Bronze … auf dem Bild von links nach rechts zu sehen.

Gruß klaupo

[villa66]

Nice coins, klaupo—the 1860 is especially tough in that grade.

My 1859 Indian is unfortunately too inconvenient to photograph right now. The 1859 is the first Indian type, with a reverse laurel wreath instead of the oak leaves of the 1860-64 type. The 1859 reverse also lacks the Shield and the Arrows of the 1860-64 cents (which often make me sad). And it was as you said, American coins had mostly departed circulation by 1862 because of the Civil War.

Because of the shortage of small change, the tokens you mentioned—yours, again, is nice(!)—filled Northern commercial channels. The Federal government saw that these “copperheads” circulated, where the official copper-nickel cents did not, and introduced a bronze “copperhead” of their own.

Just as you note, the new bronze cent was introduced in 1864, making the second version of the Indian cent coined that year.

Again, nice coins….

v.

[klaupo]

Nachdem du oben bereits eine ausführliche Beschreibung des 1859-er Indian Head gegeben hast, stelle ich ihn zur Illustration hier vor – wenn auch nur in mäßiger Erhaltung, was auf eine bewegte Vergangenheit schließen läßt.

… und um die Serie der US Small Cents des 19. Jahrhunderts zu komplettieren, füge ich noch den Starter dieser Serie an, den Flying Eagle Typ, der es auch nur auf drei Jahre Prägezeit brachte (1856-1859), aber dann doch 40 Jahre später leicht abgewandelt seine Renaissance auf dem $20 St. Gaudens Typ erleben durfte.

By the way, all these cents, which I have displayed here, I purchased from a junk box some 20 years ago for 50 Pfennig a piece.

Gruß klaupo

[Chippi]

Hi klaupo,

mein Stück ist besser erhalten, aber wenn das Wörtchen "wenn" nicht wär...

Dafür noch ein schöner 1863er:

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Und aus dem selben Jahr noch ein schöner Token:

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Gruß Chippi

[villa66]

The 1863 cent is solid, and evocative of course, of the crucial year of the war.

But I have to say the 1857 Flying Eagle is a thing of beauty--what a coin! The 1857 FE first found use as the tool the authorities used to retire the foreign coinage that had previously been legal tender in the U.S. It proved to be an effective way of getting the new small cent into circulation, of course the old large cent's unpopularity also helped. After a while, however, the large numbers of FE cents in circulation...did not endear them to merchants.

About this particular example, klaupo, wow! FE circulated until after the turn of the century, and just generally worked like dogs. Their condition, as a group, is generally poor. And your example goes a nice AU...and for 50 pfennig? Hurt me.

;_ v.