The Flying Eagle cent was the first cent to be made the same size as our modern cent. It is a predecessor to the Indian Head cent. Oddly, the penny is made of 88% copper and 12% nickel. Most coins, such as the Washington quarter, have an eagle on the reverse but this coin has it on the obverse. The eagle was designed after Peter, their pet eagle, at the had at the Philadelphia mint. Ironically, one day the eagle got its wing stuck in the machinery and died. The bird was taxidermied and is still displayed today at the Philadelphia mint. If I ever go to Philadelphia I am definitely touring the mint.
The Flying Eagle Cent has always been a highly collectable coin due to its rarity and short production time of 3 years. A few thousand prototype coins were made in 1856 but those were not released to the public. The rest of the coins were made in 1857 and 1858 and many people got very interested in pennies; some even tried to collect a type set of all pennies.
My penny is an 1858 VF30 large letter variety penny. It is slabbed by ANACS and is worth about $40. By 1880 almost all of them were put into collections which is why they are so expensive now. Information citation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Eagle_cent
