The Indian Head Cent was issued as the second design 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.
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. For this year, pieces were struck in both the copper nickel and bronze.
For the Indian Head Cent series:
- There were 54 regular issues for the series. This include the two compositions used during 1864 and the San Francisco Minted pieces 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, 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.
Indian Head Cent Mintages
| Issue | Mintage |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 36,400,000 |
| 1860 | 20,566,000 |
| 1861 | 10,100,000 |
| 1862 | 28,075,000 |
| 1863 | 49,840,000 |
| 1864 (Copper) | 13,740,000 |
| 1864 (Bronze) | 39,233,714 |
| 1865 | 35,429,286 |
| 1866 | 9,826,500 |
| 1867 | 9,821,000 |
| 1868 | 10,266,500 |
| 1869 | 6,420,000 |
| 1870 | 5,275,000 |
| 1871 | 3,929,500 |
| 1872 | 4,042,000 |
| 1873 | 11,676,500 |
| 1874 | 14,187,500 |
| 1875 | 13,528,000 |
| 1876 | 7,944,000 |
| 1877 | 852,500 |
| 1878 | 5,799,850 |
| 1879 | 16,231,200 |
| 1880 | 38,964,955 |
| 1881 | 39,211,575 |
| 1882 | 38,581,100 |
| 1883 | 45,589,109 |
| 1884 | 23,261,742 |
| 1885 | 11,765,384 |
| 1886 | 17,654,290 |
| 1887 | 45,226,483 |
| 1888 | 37,494,414 |
| 1889 | 48,869,361 |
| 1890 | 57,182,854 |
| 1891 | 47,072,350 |
| 1892 | 37,649,832 |
| 1893 | 46,642,195 |
| 1894 | 16,752,132 |
| 1895 | 38,343,636 |
| 1896 | 39,057,293 |
| 1897 | 50,466,330 |
| 1898 | 49,823,079 |
| 1899 | 53,600,031 |
| 1900 | 66,833,794 |
| 1901 | 79,611,143 |
| 1902 | 87,376,722 |
| 1903 | 85,094,493 |
| 1904 | 61,328,015 |
| 1905 | 80,719,163 |
| 1906 | 96,022,255 |
| 1907 | 108,138,618 |
| 1908 | 32,327,987 |
| 1908-S | 1,115,000 |
| 1909 | 14,370,645 |
| 1909-S | 309,000 |
Source: Indian Head Cent
