Indian Head Cent 1869 G-VG

Perhaps the most important news for the country in 1869 was the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in Promontory Summit, Utah. People could now travel from New York to California without making the arduous and dangerous journey under a covered wagon or traveling through Panama. Susan B. Anthony, who would find her own bust briefly on coinage over one hundred years later, founded the Woman’s Suffrage Association fighting for gender equality and giving women the right to vote. Finally, the long time chief engraver of the US Mint, James B. Longacre, died the first day of the year 1869 being replaced by William Barber.

Having one of the smallest mintages, the 1869 Indian Head cent is a decidedly rare coin to add to any collection. In fact, mintage figures for many small denomination coins were rather small in the year 1869. Due to an imperfection to the Mint Act of 1864, banks could refuse to take pennies from merchants and individuals forcing the US Mint to be a last resort buyer for cent and two-cent coins. Millions of coins were melted making this year an even rarer find coupled with lower mintage figures. Any attractive pieces should bring very high premiums as finding this coin in any grade has proven tough.

The proof issues this year mirror those of the past few years in terms of mintage figures. Near perfect proofs are difficult to find, as die polishing lines are sometimes confused with hairlines in the field. The mirror like quality from this year is also nothing special. The most popular variety from this year is a repunched date, 1869/9. It was commonly mistaken for a 1869/8 overdate which was popular, but after much research has been proven as a repunched date. Other less popular repunched date varieties exist for this year’s issue.

• Denomination: Cent
• Year: 1869
• Diameter: 19mm
• Mint Mark: N/A
• Thickness: 1.5mm
• Grade: Ungraded