One Cent 1856 Flying Eagle, Coin from United States - detailed information

The United States one-cent coin (often called a penny, from the British coin of the same name) is a unit of currency equalling one-hundredth of a United States dollar. The cent's symbol is ¢. It has been the lowest-value physical unit of U.S. currency since the abolition of the half-cent in 1857.

The earliest one cent coins were large and made of copper. Their designs changed relatively often; there were three different types in 1793 alone, the Flowing Hair / Chain Cent, the Flowing Hair / Wreath Cent and the Liberty Cap Cent - the latter issued until 1796, after which came the Draped Bust type (1796 to 1807), the so-called Classic Head Cent (1808 to 1814) and the Coronet Cent, also known as Liberty Head (1816 - 1857).

By the early 1850s, the rising price of copper led the Mint of the United States to seek alternatives, including reducing the size of the cent and experimenting with compositions other than pure copper. The result was the Flying Eagle cent, the same diameter as the later Lincoln Cent but somewhat thicker and heavier, composed of 88% copper and 12% nickel. The Flying Eagle cent was struck in limited numbers as a pattern coin in 1856, then for circulation in 1857 and 1858. Like all earlier cents, it was struck at the Philadelphia Mint only.

The obverse design of an eagle in flight is based on that of the Gobrecht Dollar, struck in small quantities from 1836 to 1839. The wreath on the reverse is derived from the Type II gold dollar of 1854, and the three-dollar piece of the same year. It is composed of leaves of wheat, corn, cotton and tobacco, thus including produce associated with both the North and the South. The cotton leaves are sometimes said to be maple leaves; the two types are not dissimilar, and maple leaves are more widely known than cotton leaves. An ear of corn is also visible.

The Flying Eagle cent was issued in exchange for worn Spanish colonial silver coins, which until then had circulated widely in the United States but ceased to be legal tender with the Coinage Act of February 21, 1857 - which also discontinued the large cents and the half cent denomination and introduced the small cent. These small cents were also issued in exchange for the copper coins they had replaced.

Given that the Act authorising the coins was only issued in 1857, all coins dated 1856 were technically speaking illegally struck. At least 634 pieces were given to politicians and other well connected people, as a solicitation for the proposed new type of coin, so these can be considered patterns. However, more coins were struck later - either for "illicit trading" by Mint employees, or to allow the Mint to have coins to barter in order to expand its own foreign coin collection. These restrikes were done in 1857, 1858 and 1860 - with minor variations not easy to distinguish, and not separately listed by catalogues. Some coins made it into circulation; one coin collector managed to amass 756 examples, mostly circulated. Total mintage is variously estimated to be between 1,500 to 2,500 pieces; the Guide Book of United States Coins lists mintage of 2,000 - presumably including the proofs.