Indian Head Cent 1864 CN G-VG

The Civil War continued to ravage the country through 1864. Although both sides saw victories and losses, the Confederacy’s days were clearly numbered. Most notably, General William Tecumseh Sherman captured a besieged Atlanta (a powerhouse of the Confederate South) burning it to the ground. Only then to lead 60,000 troops on a march from Atlanta to the Atlantic coast at some points sixty miles wide virtually cutting the Confederacy in half.

Although war continued to change the lives of many in 1864, the US Mint continued its creation of Indian Head cents unchanged. The die was still designed for copper-nickel coinage, however, this would be the final year of copper-nickel pennies. Congress was, as is its wont, dragging its feet in legislating for pennies to be made only of copper, which would come to fruition later in the year. Speculators bought up these pennies at a premium, mostly because the paper alternative that year was sure to be worse (even fractional currency lost value). The final copper-nickel pennies were last minted in May that year. All told, over 13,000,000 1864 copper-nickel pennies would be minted that year.

Even though these coins were almost immediately removed from circulation the year it was minted, they were extensively circulated after the war, and it appears that many survived the redemption of coinage during the 1870’s. Due to its lower mintage, this is a difficult year to find in higher grade. Proof year sets were typically made early in the year, so most proof issues from 1864 include only the copper-nickel cent. Therefore proof issues are typically easier to find than the different varieties to come later in the year. Finally, there are few varieties from the copper-nickel cent this year, the most popular of which is a repunched date shown most notably in the “4”.

• Denomination: Cent
• Year: 1864
• Diameter: 19mm
• Mint Mark: N/A
• Thickness: 1.55mm
• Grade: Ungraded