Indian Head Cents Mintage

The Indian Head Cent was the second design issued for the small cent. The coin was designed by James B. Longacre and features an image of Liberty in a Native American headdress on the obverse, which lends itself to the series name. The reverse of the coin first featured a laurel wreath, which was replaced with an oak wreath and shield after only one year.

1869 Indian Head Cent
1869 Indian Head Cent

The series was produced from 1859 to 1909 with a few design modifications. The composition of the Indian Head Cent began as 88% copper and 12% nickel. This proved difficult to strike and the composition was changed to 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc during 1864. During this year, pieces were struck in both the copper and nickel composition and a bronze composition.

Indian Head Cent Notes:

  • There were 54 regular issues for the series. This includes the two compositions used during 1864 and the pieces minted at the San Francisco Mint for the final two years of the series.
  • The series had a duration of 50 years from 1859 to 1909. Coins were issued for every year inclusive at the Philadelphia Mint and for the final two years at the San Francisco Mint.
  • The highest reported mintage is for the 1907 Indian Head Cent with 108,138,618 pieces. This was also the only issue of the series with a mintage above 100 million.
  • The lowest reported mintage is for the 1909-S Indian Head Cent with 309,000 pieces reported struck. Along with the 1877 Indian Head Cent, this is one of only two issues of the series with a mintage below 1 million.
  • The average mintage across all 54 regular issues of the series is 34,252,575, and the total mintage is 1,849,639,030.

Indian Head Cent Mintages:

IssueMintage
185936,400,000
1859 Proof800
186020,566,000
1860 Proof1,000
186110,100,000
1861 Proof1,000
186228,075,000
1862 Proof1,500-2,000
186349,840,000
1863 Proof800-1,000
1864 (Copper)13,740,000
1864 Proof (Copper)800-1,000
1864 (Bronze)39,233,714
1864 Proof No L (Bronze)150+
1864 Proof With L (Bronze)20+
186535,429,286
1865 Proof750-1,000
18669,826,500
1866 Proof 725-1,000
18679,821,000
1867 Proof850-1,000
186810,266,500
1868 Proof750-1,000
18696,420,000
1869 Proof850-1,000
18705,275,000
1870 Proof1,000+
18713,929,500
1871 Proof960+
18724,042,000
1872 Proof850-1,100
187311,676,500
1873 Proof Close 31,500-2,000
187414,187,500
1874 Proof1,000-1,200
187513,528,000
1875 Proof1,000-1,250
18767,944,000
1876 Proof1,500-2,000
1877852,500
1877 Proof1,250-1,500
18785,799,850
1878 Proof2,350
187916,231,200
1879 Proof3,200
188038,964,955
1880 Proof3,955
188139,211,575
1881 Proof3,575
188238,581,100
1882 Proof3,100
188345,589,109
1883 Proof6,609

Indian Head Cent Mintages Continued:

IssueMintage
188423,261,742
1884 Proof3,942
188511,765,384
1885 Proof3,790
188617,654,290
1886 Proof4,290
188745,226,483
1887 Proof2,960
188837,494,414
1888 Proof4,582
188948,869,361
1889 Proof3,336
189057,182,854
1890 Proof2,740
189147,072,350
1891 Proof2,350
189237,649,832
1892 Proof2,745
189346,642,195
1893 Proof2,195
189416,752,132
1894 Proof2,632
189538,343,636
1895 Proof2,062
189639,057,293
1896 Proof1,862
189750,466,330
1897 Proof1,938
189849,823,079
1898 Proof1,795
189953,600,031
1899 Proof2,031
190066,833,794
1900 Proof2,262
190179,611,143
1901 Proof1,985
190287,376,722
1902 Proof2,018
190385,094,493
1903 Proof1,790
190461,328,015
1904 Proof1,817
190580,719,163
1905 Proof2,152
190696,022,255
1906 Proof1,725
1907108,138,618
1907 Proof1,475
190832,327,987
1908 Proof1,620
1908-S1,115,000
190914,370,645
1909 Proof2,175
1909-S309,000
Source: IndianHeadCent.org