The Indian Head penny was replaced with the Lincoln penny, which has now been with us for 100 years.
This coin is probably worth two or three dollars. That's 30,000% of face value. Not bad.
Suomi Summer
6 hours ago
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Indian Head Penny, 1908
Now I'm spending some time going through some old coins, and getting rid of some. I have a whole bunch of Indian Head pennies, and I figured I would scan one. Coins scan very nicely in flatbed scanners. Indian Head pennies were produced between 1859 and 1909. It doesn't look much like a stereotypical Indian profile, nor does it look like a real-looking Indian. The profile resembles a classic Greek sculpture to me.
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19 comments:
Allow me to correct your math, 300% of a penny's value would be $0.03. $3 would 30,000% of the value.
I don't have any of these, I did have a few Morgans a while back.
That did scan really well. I guess a penny saved is 300 pennies earned in your case.
Alien: Ouch! With math like that, I belong in the federal government working on the stimulus.
dmarks, great comment!
VERY nice looking penny there.....and, you're right, it looks like a Roman wearing a feather headdress!! Thanks!
How nice to see one close up. I don't think I have ever seen one in person. Neat.
You could work for the government! Hahahaha.
I can't even find my old change.
I have never really seen an Indian head penny. At least I don't recall seeing one. They are pretty cool. And not a bad return on value. And I just thought I would give you some feedback about your comment about Hellboy II on my blog. You are not missing much. The movie is not so good. I think I was more disappointed because I lost my Blu-Ray virginity to that movie.
I used to have a handful of these, but I don't know where they got to.
I have several of these but would give a part of a hand to get my other on a half-penny that we quit making in 1858.
Shoprat: I won't swear on the shade of Berek Halfhand, but I might have one of those half-pennies. I'd better check.
I have a couple dozen of these pennies in my childhood coin collection. I also have a couple of its short-lived predecessor, the Flying Eagle Cent, and one of the half-pennies (sorry, Shoprat).
For more on the subject, see Indian Head Penny and The Girl on the Penny.
Thanks for the links, Rub. I will also be featuring the Buffalo Head Nickel soon.
I'm blown away by the scan. It makes me what to scan all thye change in my pocket. One could create some nifty coiny collages. I don't think my boys have ever seen one of these. I'll show them as soon as they hop out of bed:)
Some info on the buffalo nickel:
The buffalo nickel design
Buffalo dollars benefit NMAI
Rob: A post on the buffalo nickel is coming soon, too
Never seen this kind of penny. I remember sorting through my parents' pennies trying to find the wheat pennies. I always got a kick out of those, imagining all the people who might have held this coin and what they were doing in their lives...
Is 1858 actually the last year the US produced a half-cent or half penny? I have someone who says that they have a 1909 US half-penny. Is it possible they're misreading the year - or the country of origin? I recall they said it had a wheat back.
It says LIBERTY on the Indian's headband. Not an American, maybe I miss something in the American history here.
I had left a question about why an image of an Indian in his headgear had the word LIBERTY written on his headband. I then looked for some explaination and found this... In a Indian Head Pennies depict Lady Liberty wearing a feathered headdress, which looks similar to an American Indian war bonnet, hence the popular name "Indian Head Penny." These were the second of the so-called U.S. "small cents," with the short-lived Flying Eagle Cent being its predecessor. All Indian Head Cents are worth at least a dollar if you can read the date and still see the basic devices (G-4 grade), but many are worth considerably more, even in this modest grade. The prices below are for the average grade, about VG-8; they have a clear date and at least 2 letters of the word LIBERTY appear on the band of the headdress. Also, the coin shouldn't have any major defects, such as being holed, bent, corroded, etc.
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