Archive for the ‘Indian Head Cents’ Category

How to collect US five-cent pieces ?

Nickels were made in four major types beginning in 1866. Collectors gravitate to this series because there are so many affordable dates and because of the draw of the purely American design on the Indian-head/buffalo type. You can obtain many of the coins you need for your collection from circulation, which is a fun and easy way to start. When you're ready to get serious about this series, consider the following ways of collecting:

By type:

• Difficulty rating: Easy. Finding all four types of the five-cent pieces is a breeze.

• Cost estimate: Inexpensive. In Fine condition, a set of nickel types runs less than . In Uncirculated condition, a nice type set of nickels runs less that 0.

By date:

• Difficulty rating: Impossible — the 1913 Liberty nickel set a price record of over million in 2007. However, if you stay within each type, or disregard the 1913 nickel, the difficulty rating drops to easy. For example, the only scarce shield nickels are the dates from 1877 to 1881. The only tough V nickels are the 1885 and 1912-S, and there are no rare dates in the buffalo or Jefferson nickel types, except for a few overdates.

• Cost estimate: A complete date set of shield nickels in Fine condition costs approximately ,250. In Uncirculated condition, expect to pay ,000 and up. If you exclude the 1913, as you must, a complete date and mintmark set of V nickels in Fine condition will cost roughly ,000; in Uncirculated condition, the potential cost jumps to at least ,000. For ,500, you can complete a date and mintmark set of buffalo nickels (less the overdates and the three-legged error of 1937) in Fine; in Uncirculated condition, expect to spend ,000 for a choice set. (We told you they were popular!) Because they're so inexpensive, we recommend collecting Jefferson-head nickels only in Uncirculated and/or proof condition. A complete set of all dates and mintmarks should run approximately 0.

By die variety:

• Difficulty rating: Moderately difficult to extremely difficult, depending on how far you go. Several design variations exist to tempt you and some are considered must-have varieties. The 1867 nickel comes with and without rays on the back, the 1883 nickel comes with the word Cents and without the word Cents on the reverse, and the 1913 buffalo nickels come with the words Five Cents either on a mound (Type I) or in a recessed area (Type II). If overdates thrill you, choose among the 1879/8 or 1883/2, the 1914/3, the 1916/16, the 1918/7 from the Denver mint, and the 1943/2. One of the most unusual varieties is the 1937-D three-legged buffalo nickel, an error created when some of the details were accidentally ground off the die used to strike the coins while polishing it!

• Cost estimate: Moderately expensive to mega-expensive. Common varieties run or less — others can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.

This is just a boring pointless video clip of my 1877 cent. The guy at the NGC table at the coin convention said it was a VG-10 grade but that seems high to me.

Major types of US five-cent pieces

Nickels appear in four major types, discussed in this article.

Shield nickel (1866–1883)

The shield nickel first appeared in 1866, following the end of the Civil War. The front of the coin copied the design of a shield from the two-cent piece and the reverse showed a large 5 within a circle of stars, with rays of light between the stars. (Later, the rays were dropped from the design.) This design type lasted until 1883, at which time the government felt secure enough to resurrect the head of Liberty.

Liberty-head or V nickel (1883–1913)

In 1883, Liberty reappeared on the five-cent coins, this time as a head instead of a lady sitting on a rock (compare with the half dimes in Chapter 11). The back of the coin featured a large V (see Figure 10-20), the Roman numeral for five. Through an oversight, the word Cents was left off the coin, creating an opportunity for con men to gold-plate the coins and pass them off as gold pieces to immigrants! Needless to say, this problem was fixed immediately, creating two major varieties for 1883. In 1913, the last year that V nickels were made, only five examples were struck, creating one of the greatest rarities in the entire U.S. coin series.

Indian-head or buffalo nickel (1913–1938)

As part of a major redesign of U.S. coins, the nickel got a makeover in 1913 when Liberty was replaced with the head of a Native American chief, and the large V was replaced with an American bison. This new design proved extremely popular and lasted until 1938. Lots of collectors favor this purely American design.

Jefferson head (1938 to present)

The nickel went presidential in 1938, when Thomas Jefferson's image was placed on the front of the five-cent piece and his home, Monticello, was added to the back.

Clearly, the trend at the time was toward adding famous historical figures to coins. In 1909, Lincoln appeared on the cent and in 1932, Washington made it onto the quarter dollar. The trend continued in 1946, when Franklin Roosevelt showed up on the dime, and in 1948, when Benjamin Franklin appeared on the half dollar. So it was no surprise when Jefferson appeared on the nickel, where he and his house remain today.

More Indian Head Cents Articles

This is a basic guide to collecting Indian Head Cents.

It is safe to say there have been many important coins in the history of the cent denomination. Ranging from expensive and scarce to rather available and inexpensive, important cents take a number of forms, making the top 10 an interesting and diverse group.

The cent was a high priority for the U.S. Mint from its start, with the first cents being minted for circulation in 1793, the year after the Mint opened. Here's my list of the 10 best that have been produced since then.

1. The design of the 1793 Flowing Hair chain cent is credited to Henry Voight. It shows Liberty facing left, with a chain reverse of 15 links—one for each state in the Union. An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 were minted with an abbreviated inscription, "UNITED STATES OF AMERI." The remainder of this 36,103-mintage coin carried "AMERICA."

No sooner had the first cents appeared than the critics came out in force. Particularly offensive to some were the chains. The idea was to show unity, but to some the chain represented captivity. The 1793 Flowing Hair chain cent is extremely popular today. It is usually found well-worn. The demand is always far in excess of the supply, which means even a Good-4 commands a ,750 price tag.

2. Next is the 1856 Flying Eagle cent. In fact, the 1856 Flying Eagle cent is technically a pattern, as the Flying Eagle cent was not even authorized until 1857. The 1856 Flying Eagle cent was basically a test of a new, smaller cent that would not have an intrinsic value anywhere near its face value. Therefore, it was a bold departure from prior practice. The first 1,000 were given out to congressmen and others in influence in an attempt to win its approval. It was coined for circulation into 1858, and collectors soon realized the 1856 was far tougher than the 1857 or the 1858. The Mint at the time was a very different sort of place and collectors wanting an 1856 Flying Eagle cent simply went to the Mint and asked for one. The Mint cheerfully provided the coins. We cannot be sure of the initial mintage, but most put it at somewhere between 1,500 and 3,500. Over the years the 1856 has not been dismissed as a pattern. From the start it was seen as a prized addition to a cent collection. As such, the coins were selling for each as early 1859.

The 1856 was hoarded by the wealthy collectors of the late 1800s and early 1900s, with famous hoards in some cases topping 500 examples. The significance of those hoards can be seen in today's list price of ,250 for an 1856 in G-4. The 1856 ranks as a truly significant coin not only because it is scarce but also because it opened the door to the idea of a small cent.

3. In 1859 an entirely new cent appeared with James B. Longacre's Indian Head obverse. The 1859 was important as a one-year transitional piece. The following year the design on the reverse was changed to show an oak wreath and a small shield.

Fortunately, despite only being produced for one year, the 1859 had a high mintage of 36,400,000. It is available today at .50 in G-4, 5 in Mint State-60, and ,200 in MS-65.

4. The 1877 Indian Head cent is next on my list. It had a mintage of 852,500 and was quickly recognized as being scarce. It remains tough today, listing at 0 in G-4, ,850 in MS-60, and ,750 in MS-65.

5. The 1908-S Indian Head cent is important for a very simple reason. It was the first cent to be produced at any facility other than Philadelphia. Until a couple years earlier, there had been a stipulation in the law that coins containing no gold or silver could only be produced at Philadelphia. That somewhat unusual idea had been the result of Western mining interests who wanted nothing to do with coins not containing the metals they were mining. That feeling was especially strong during the 1870s, when the price of silver was declining.

Finally, in the early 1900s, the law was changed, as lower denominations were needed even in the West, and having them shipped from Philadelphia when there were mints in San Francisco and Denver was ridiculous. The 1908-S was the first cent to be produced in San Francisco, with Denver joining in with cent production starting in 1911.

It is clear the 1908-S was noticed as it was saved in some numbers, making it available today at just in G-4, 5 in MS-60, and 0 in MS-65. The price of a G-4 is unusually close to the MS-60 simply because the 1908-S was a bigger deal than we might think today and that meant significant saving at the time it was released.

6. The 1909 V.D.B. Lincoln cent is also a coin of great importance. Prior to the 1909 V.D.B. no circulating coin of the United States had depicted a famous American. Although Washington had already appeared on the 1900 Lafayette commemorative silver dollar, the idea of not using depictions of real Americans on circulating coins dated from his time. He had joined the House of Representatives in blocking the use of his image on coins.

This held until Teddy Roosevelt came along with the idea that the centennial of Lincoln's birth should be noted on a circulating coin. The artist selected by Roosevelt, Victor D. Brenner, contributed to the fame of the first Lincoln cent by having his initials on the reverse. Officials had actually approved that idea, but when they saw the first Lincoln cent they changed their minds and the V.D.B. was ordered removed. Before the initials could be removed, 27,995,000 of the new 1909 V.D.B. cents had been produced at Philadelphia, which was enough to make them available today at just .50 for an MS-60 and 0 for an MS-65.

The price indicates the heavy saving. Like the 1908-S, the 1909 V.D.B. was much more important than we might think. Many opposed the idea of using famous Americans on the circulating coins, but eventually the nation's coinage would become literally a portrait gallery of historic figures. That all started with the 1909 Lincoln cent.

7. The 1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln cent can probably be best described as the 1877 of the following century. What is special about the 1909-S V.D.B. is that it had a mintage of just 484,000 before the order came down to remove the initials. That made it instantly a valuable and popular cent.

The 1909-S V.D.B. was readily saved as can be seen in the numbers of examples available today in grades like About Uncirculated-50 and up. Even so, generation after generation of collectors have tried to find a 1909-S V.D.B. in circulation, making it the most desired coin by collectors for years. The 1909-S V.D.B. lists for 0 in G-4, ,300 in MS-60, and ,750 in MS-65.

8. The cents of 1943 are special as they are really souvenirs of World War II. In an attempt to conserve copper for the war effort, it was decided that an alternative alloy for the cent was needed and that turned out to be zinc-coated steel.

The new steel cents, which were subject to rusting, were unpopular with the public. The 1943 zinc-coated steel cents would be produced for just one year, with cents of the next couple years being made from recycled shell cases.

The 1943 zinc-coated steel cents, though readily available at low prices, are popular today because of their link to the war. A set of three MS-65 examples from Philadelphia, San Francisco and Denver can be had for around .

9. The numismatic world was surprised back in 1955 by the discovery that some 1955 cents were doubled on the obverse. The 1955 doubled-die cent was a national sensation and it has kept its popularity. Prices today range from ,350 in Extremely Fine-40 to ,500 in MS-65.

10. The final coin on my list of most important cents is the one everyone takes for granted and that is the 1959 Lincoln cent with the Memorial reverse. It is readily available, but the real story is not its price, but its creation to mark the 50th anniversary of the Lincoln cent.

Under the law, once a coin has been in circulation for 25 years the Treasury Department can order a change without consulting Congress. The Lincoln Memorial reverse was the last time a Treasury secretary changed a design using that power, which makes it an important coin.

It will be interesting to see what happens in 2009, when this design reaches its half century anniversary. From the historic to the popular, from the scarce to the common, the most important cents of the United States are a fascinating group. A few others could probably be added to such a list but in every case the 10 most important cents have excellent reasons for standing out in what has now been more than two centuries of very interesting cents.

Related Indian Head Cents Articles

Lincoln Cent Pennies - Collectors love them while most folks hate them

If you walk accross a street and you see a quarter on the ground would you pick it up ? I bet you would. Now, what if the coin you saw lying there was a penny, would you still pick it up ? Some folks would say, if it was lying face up I might, otherwise picking up a coin that is lying face-down may bring bad luck. How come folks don't say this saying if it was a quarter or a dollar bill lying on the ground, face-down. It all comes down to the value of the money, whether it gets picked up or not. I think most children would pick up a penny, to them a couple pennies can still buy a piece of candy, and to a collector of lincon cents, a penny face down or face up may be a rare find just waiting for an owner.

It's strange how the poor little penny gets such a bad rap from folks, when your in line at a store folks get mad if your counting through a bunch of them, and they seem to be in everyones vehicle ash tray, or glove compartment like there a piece of trash. But to me it's always been the same as having a nickel, dime or anything else. I mean come on folks, you wouldn't throw a nickel away, so why a penny. It's getting so bad that now days many stores keep some on the counter in a container and folks can have a couple for free if they need them for change, I hope they get to the point where they do that for dollars someday. I remember a time when my wife and I was happy to have a jar of pennies, so we could roll them and take them to the local bank for some badly needed money, now I am happy to say those desperate days seem to be gone for me, but I bet there are still a lot of folks that save, and roll their pennies for cash when hard times come along

The Lincoln Cent has been around since 1909, it is the oldest minted design of any U.S. coin. The Lincoln Cent was the first regular minted U.S. coin that used a portrait on it. A sculptor named ' Victor David Brenner ', was selected because of his talents, by president Theodore Roosevelt to design the Lincoln Cent portrait. In fact President Roosevelt saw a plaque that Brenner had made several years earlier that had the image of President Lincoln on it.

Indian Head Cents, Flying Eagle Cents, and Large Cents, did not have the motto ' In God We Trust ', on them, in fact The Lincoln Cent was the first U.S. penny or cent that had the motto ' In God We Trust ', placed on it. In 1909, the first year of the Lincoln Cents release the pennies had the designer's initials on it ' VDB ', but after the coin was released a lot of folks complained that the designers initial's detracted value from the coin, so the large letters ' VDB ', were removed, later in 1918 they were placed back on the penny, but in very tiny print and hidden under the shoulder of Lincoln. From the cents release in 1909 until 1958 the reverse side of the Lincoln Cent showed two wheat stalks, one along each side of the coin. In 1959 a new design was released for the reverse side of the Lincon Cent, this design was the ' Lincoln Memorial ', which is still on the coins today. In 1943 copper became scarce and was needed for the military, so the mint produced Lincoln Cents from zinc-coated steel, these coins are gray or chalky colored.

With almost one hundred years of circulation, the Lincoln Cent has many key-dates and error varieties that make some of them prized finds for coin collectors. Some of the sought after lincoln cents wanted by collectors are: ' 1909-S V.D.B. ',' 1914 - D ',' 1922 Plain ',' 1944 D over S ',' 1955 Double Die ', other Lincolns that have double die errors are on the obverse of some cents dated 1936, 1972, 1984 and 1995 and on the reverse of some cents dated 1983.

There is computer software that is made for collecting Lincoln Cent Pennies. ' Lincoln Cent Collector Software ', lets you record detailed information about each of your Lincoln Cents, such as: Source Aquired from, including name, address, telephone info, email, date, coin condition, cost, value, mint mark, errors or other info, notes, and much more.This is the most easiest to use software of it's kind, and it is made 100% for collecting Lincoln Cents. The software is described in detail and you can download a free demo version of it at this website address:

http://www.rb59.com/lcc

By Robert W. BenjaminCopyright © 2006

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1866-1878 Indian Head Cents

• Bronze Composition
• 3.11 grams
• 19 mm Diameter

These are selected key and semi-key dates from 1866-1878. All of these coins are very tough dates to find. Mintages were much lower during these years, as many two and three cent pieces were also struck.

Price: