Indian Head Cents Mintage

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.

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. 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

IssueMintage
185936,400,000
186020,566,000
186110,100,000
186228,075,000
186349,840,000
1864 (Copper)13,740,000
1864 (Bronze)39,233,714
186535,429,286
18669,826,500
18679,821,000
186810,266,500
18696,420,000
18705,275,000
18713,929,500
18724,042,000
187311,676,500
187414,187,500
187513,528,000
18767,944,000
1877852,500
18785,799,850
187916,231,200
188038,964,955
188139,211,575
188238,581,100
188345,589,109
188423,261,742
188511,765,384
188617,654,290
188745,226,483
188837,494,414
188948,869,361
189057,182,854
189147,072,350
189237,649,832
189346,642,195
189416,752,132
189538,343,636
189639,057,293
189750,466,330
189849,823,079
189953,600,031
190066,833,794
190179,611,143
190287,376,722
190385,094,493
190461,328,015
190580,719,163
190696,022,255
1907108,138,618
190832,327,987
1908-S1,115,000
190914,370,645
1909-S309,000

Source: Indian Head Cent