Indian Head Cent 1877 G-VG

Rutherford Hayes took office in the year 1887. Some newspapers dubbed him “His Fraudulency” due to his winning of the presidential office despite the loser, Samuel Tilden, winning the popular vote. As the nation continued to innovate, Alexander Bell sold his first telephone. Thomas Edison invented the phonograph giving citizens the ability to listen to music without the need of any musicians present. The multimillionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt died, leaving an estate of over $100 million (in 1877!) to his much younger widow. Also with the nation still recovering from the Panic of 1873, the US Mint only issued twenty proof coins in each gold series. It is believed that not all were even sold!

This year is considered the rarest issue of the Indian Head cent series. With a mintage of only 852,500, this was the lowest mintage since 1823. This is the rarest date not only due to the low mintage, the nation was still in an economic depression. Over a quarter of the working population were jobless and those fortunate enough with jobs found their wages severely cut. Coins were still flooding into the Mint for redemption. Almost ten million coins were returned to the Mint and nearly that many were reissued. The 1877 Indian Head cents around today are here by fortune. Even though the mintage figure is so low, the amount that survived make it seem that the mintage figure would be lower.

There are many counterfeit examples of this year’s issue. Coins with altered dates are common, however, they are typically easy to spot. The coins used are typically those from 1879 or 1875. The proof Indian Head cents from 1877 are typically available but are usually more expensive due to the mintage figure.There are no varieties known for this year.

• Denomination: Cent
• Year: 1877
• Diameter: 19mm
• Mint Mark: N/A
• Thickness: 1.5mm
• Grade: Ungraded