Today I thought we'd look at a nice old coin. It's not silver, but to coin collectors, it is a well loved one.

When I was a kid, probably the two most wanted items all of us wanted were stone arrowheads and Indian Head pennies. The former are old rock tools that were used hundreds and thousands of years ago. While they are occasionally found, it is rare. The latter was less than 100 years out of date when I was a kid, so they actually could still be found in change sometimes, when older folks weren't careful and used them accidentally. Such a thing was rare, but it did happen. Sounds weird, but it's no different from Mercury dimes showing up in change today sometimes, which people on Reddit report happening often enough that I assume it still does happen. I would doubt if an Indian Head penny would show up in change today, but then again, you never know.

My friends and I never found either. The closest I ever got was a 1909 penny, the first year they had Lincoln on them. It wasn't until much later in life that I finally got my hands on an Indian Head penny, though I bought it instead of randomly finding it. I've bought many since. It's not as attractive as a Morgan Dollar or Mercury Dime, but it has its charm.

Here's a few of the ones I own:

Here it is next to the more common Lincoln penny.

It was minted from 1859 to 1909. It replaces the Flying Eagle penny, but that one was only minted for two years (1857-58), so in effect it also replaced the prior half-dollar sized "large cent". The Flying Eagle pennies were sometimes called "small cents" in comparison, but that name was also used for Indian head penny and Lincoln penny by old timers who still remembered using the larger one.

The name "Indian head" is a misnomer because it's not actually a Native American on the obverse but is instead the goddess Liberty wearing a Native American-style headdress. I’m not sure if a “white goddess in traditional Native American clothes” would fly today, but at the time, it was an accepted allegorical representation of Liberty. The $10 Gold Eagle had a similar design.

The reverse design changed after the first year. In 1859, it featured a laurel wreath, but from 1860 onward, it was changed to an oak wreath with a shield on top. This design remained until the series ended in 1909. It’s a bit more detailed and I think nicer than the more stylized reverse of the Lincoln wheat penny (1909–1958), which featured two stalks of wheat instead of a wreath.

Anyway, all around a nice penny. I don't have any mint copies, just old ones covered by a thick patina with probably some dirt. While I'd love a copy in better condition, I'm not in love with it enough to pay for one in that quality.

What do you think? Good coin?

David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Mastodon.