This installment of Series Facts focuses on the Indian Cent series. This series caught my eye as we’ve just put into DLRC’s Monday Auction #333 a very nice collection of fresh Indian Cent proofs. Not being a huge Indian Cent collector myself, when sorting through the Indian Sunset Proof Collection it was interesting to find that there are some low mintage dates that are actually very affordable. Below are  a few interesting facts about the Indian Cent series, business strikes and proofs. If you have other interesting facts or stories about the series please log-in and add your comment.

Indian Cent Series Facts:

1. The series was issued from 1859 through 1909.

2. There are three main types:  Type 1 Copper-Nickel issued in 1859 only, Type 2 Copper-Nickel with Shield on reverse, issued from 1860-1864, and Type 3 Bronze, issued from 1864-1909.

3. The designer’s initial “L” was added to the design with the 1864 Type 3 Bronze coin. The “L” is located to the right of the hair ribbon behind the neck.

4. The entire series was issued from the Philadelphia Mint with the exception of the 1908 and 1909 San Francisco Mint issues.

5. The two key dates in the set are the 1877 (Mintage of 852,500 coins) and the 1909-S (Mintage of 309,000 coins). Better dates in the set include the 1864 Bronze With L, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1876, 1878 and 1908-S.

6. Proof coins were issued for each year. Some of the key proofs are the 1864 (Mintage of 370), 1874 (mintage of 7000), 1875 (Mintage of 700) and the 1877 (Mintage of 900).

7. Location of the ”S” mint-mark is located on the bottom reverse underneath the ribbon in the wreath.

8. For variety collectors there are a few recognized varieties: the 1860 Pointed Bust, 1873 Doubled Liberty, 1888 Last 8/7 (very scarce) and the 1894 Double Date.

9. The ”Indian Head” design is incorrectly designated as the design is actually that of Miss Liberty wearing a headdress and was not an actual Indian princess. (Yoeman, The RedBook of U.S. Coins, 2008, p. 110).

10. For the basic set (no varities) there are just 54 coins with the only two truly pricey coins being the 1877 and 1909-S. Nice circulated examples of the majority of the dates would range from $10-150, with the 1877 starting around $1,000 and the 1909-S around $500.