Flying Eagle cent
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
that was minted from 1856 to 1858. The coin was designed by James B. Longacre. The Flying Eagle was the first small-sized cent coin minted in the US, replacing the earlier large cent
Large cent (United States coin)
The United States large cent was a coin with a face value of 1/100 of a United States dollar. Its diameter varied between 27mm and 29mm. The first official mintage of the large cent was in 1793, and its production continued until 1857, when it was officially replaced by the modern-size one-cent...
. The obverse of the coin depicts an eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
in flight, a unique subject for the obverse of American coins. The reverse of the coin has the words ONE CENT surrounded by a wreath, similar to the reverse on the later Indian Head cent
Indian Head cent
The Indian Head one-cent coin, also known as an Indian Penny , was produced by the United States Mint from 1859 to 1909 at the Philadelphia Mint and in 1908 and 1909 at the San Francisco Mint...
and Wheat cent minted until 1958. The United States Mint
United States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
in Philadelphia struck about 700 Flying Eagle cents in 1856 as pattern
Pattern coin
A pattern coin is a coin which has not been approved for release, produced for the purpose of evaluating a proposed coin design. They are often off-metal strikes, to proof standard or piedforts...
pieces, a way to show influential congressmen and senators what these coins would look like. The coins became popular and were soon selling for $2.00 (equal to $ today) in auctions. The Mint began restriking them in 1858 and selling them to the public. Probably another 1,500 pieces were struck in Proof format and sold to new collectors. Auction prices dropped to 25¢, equal to $ today. Today, proofs sell for $6,000 or more.
In 1858, there was a "large letter" and "small letter" variety produced. An easy way to tell the difference between large-letter and small-letter varieties is to look at the word 'America'. In the large letter variety, the letters A and M are joined, whereas in the small letter they are not. The small letter variety is a low relief design. The eagle is shallower in the die and the letters are smaller than those used in 1857 and on the 1858 large letter variety.
Both the Flying Eagle Cent and Indian Head cent
Indian Head cent
The Indian Head one-cent coin, also known as an Indian Penny , was produced by the United States Mint from 1859 to 1909 at the Philadelphia Mint and in 1908 and 1909 at the San Francisco Mint...
s minted from 1859 to 1864 were struck in an alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
of 88% copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and 12% nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
, giving the coins a much whiter sheen than contemporary one-cent pieces. The nickel five-cent coin
Nickel (United States coin)
The nickel is a five-cent coin, representing a unit of currency equaling five hundredths of one United States dollar. A later-produced Canadian nickel five-cent coin was also called by the same name....
would not begin production until 1866
Shield nickel
The Shield nickel was the first United States five cent piece to be made out of copper-nickel, the same alloy of which American nickels are struck today. Designed by James B. Longacre, the coin was issued from 1866 until 1883, when it was replaced by the Liberty Head nickel...
, and so these nickel-alloy one-cent pieces were slangily known as "nickels".
The design didn't last long due to the obverse design opposing the reverse design. The eagle's head and tail were opposite the wreath. The presses had to strike the coins harder to get the design up fully. This caused dies to fail more often. The design was replaced by the Indian Cent in 1859.