1867 Shield Two Cents 1864-1872 VF25BN

History

The Coinage Act of April 22, 1864 authorized the two-cent piece and simultaneously barred private minting of one- and two-cent pieces for circulation, closing out the Civil War token era. Wartime hoarding of gold and silver had stripped small change out of commerce, and base-metal coinage was the government's answer. James B. Longacre, then Chief Engraver, prepared the design, and the denomination became the first United States coin to carry IN GOD WE TRUST. By 1867 the series was well into its decline: the Philadelphia Mint struck 19,847,500 pieces in 1864 and only 65,000 circulation strikes in the final year of business-strike production, 1872, as competing small denominations took over the role.

Details

Longacre designed both sides. The coin was struck in bronze of 95 percent copper with 5 percent tin and zinc, weighing 6.22 grams on a 23.00 mm planchet with a plain edge. Philadelphia was the only mint to strike two-cent pieces, and no coin of the denomination carries a mint mark; the 1867 business-strike mintage was 2,938,750, alongside 625 proofs. As with essentially every doubled die of the period, the number of coins produced from the affected die pair was never recorded.

Features

The obverse carries a shield with crossed arrows behind it and a wreath, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST on a ribbon across the top of the shield, and the date below. On the reverse, 2 CENTS sits within a wheat wreath encircled by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. On FS-101 the doubling is bold and visible without magnification, strongest in the motto, where the letters of GOD are widely doubled and the second image is offset toward the lower left; the arrows and the leaves on the left side of the wreath also show clear separation. The date shows no doubling at all, so attribution has to be made from the motto and wreath.

Notable facts

• PCGS maintains two parallel listings for this variety, one as "1867 2C Doubled Die Obverse" and one as "1867 2C DDO FS-101," so population and price data are divided between the two catalog numbers.
• Older holders and catalog entries may show the variety under its earlier Cherrypickers' designation, FS-003.
• Estimates of surviving Mint State examples run to roughly 30 coins grading MS60 or better, with about 10 at MS65 or finer.
• An MS64 Brown example graded by CACG realized $4,560 at auction in November 2024.
• Extremely Fine and About Uncirculated pieces are considerably harder to find than lower circulated grades, and Mint State survivors cluster in the MS63 to MS64 range.