1857 Flying Eagle Cents 1856-1858 MS62

History

By the early 1850s the copper large cent, roughly the diameter of a half dollar, had grown unpopular in commerce and costly to produce. After experiments with several sizes and compositions, the Mint adopted an alloy of 88 percent copper and 12 percent nickel, and the Flying Eagle design was struck as a pattern in 1856. The Act of February 21, 1857 abandoned the large cent standard and made the small cent a legal reality, so 1857 became the first date struck under actual authority. Distribution ran through banks, and a booth in the yard of the Philadelphia Mint advertised new cents in exchange for old coins, the new pieces bagged in small cloth sacks of $5 face value, or 500 coins, each.

Details

James Barton Longacre designed both sides, with the eagle in flight derived from work by his predecessor Christian Gobrecht. The coin measures 19.00 mm with a plain edge and a copper-nickel alloy of 88 percent copper and 12 percent nickel; reported weights range from 4.67 to 4.70 grams, the lower figure corresponding to the 72-grain legal standard. Philadelphia struck 17,450,000 business strikes, none carrying a mint mark. Proof production for the year is estimated at 485 pieces.

Features

The obverse carries an eagle with wings extended in full flight to the left, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the rim and the date below. The reverse places ONE CENT within an agricultural wreath. Two obverse types exist for the date, since the Mint used an 1856 obverse to strike some 1857 cents; the Style of 1856 obverse shows a squared O in OF among other diagnostics. Doubled dies are numerous, with one prominent example showing bold doubling on the CA of AMERICA and slight doubling in the T of UNITED, and die clashes with half dollar, quarter and double eagle dies are separately catalogued as FS-402, FS-901 and FS-403.

Notable facts

• Striking trouble plagued the type because the heavy reverse wreath sat opposite the eagle in the dies, leaving the eagle's head and tail weak unless special effort was made, and this flaw led to the design's abandonment after 1858.
• The 1857 cents were popular with the public and saved in quantity, so rarity in this issue is a matter of condition rather than date.
• A proof 1857 graded PR66 brought $46,800 in an April 6, 2025 auction, and an MS65 example of the FS-402 die clash with a half dollar die realized $5,875 on January 7, 2015.
• 1857 is the only year in which the United States struck both large cents and small cents for circulation.
• Counterstamped survivors are recognized rather than dismissed as damage, including a listing for the Brunk O-59 "Oil of Ice" counterstamp.