Been looking at flying eagles for years. Bought a cleaned one and got burned. Just traded it off cheap. Now I'm curious... Why are mint state flying eagle cents so scarce!? I don't understand this series at all. First of all with such a short lived series, you would have thought everybody would've saved these in large quantities like every other first and last year coin. The mintage figures were not small. 17 million in 1857 and 24+mil in 1858. There should be rolls and rolls of mint state examples that nobody wants. This should be one of the easiest, and cheapest of the small cents to acquire for a type set. Instead, everything you find is well worn, beat up, low eye appeal, cleaned, messed with. (Until you're ready to break out 500 to a grand+.) Why does it take hundreds of dollars just to get a half way decent looking one? Anybody who thinks the hobby is dying, go buy yourself a MS-62 or higher flying eagle. See what they're giving them away for these days. lol Even nice AU examples are rare. Next question. Why does NGC not give RD, RB, or BN designation to flying eagles?
These used to be called "white cents," because in high mint state, the copper-nickel composition made them appear whiteish in color. When you compare them to, say, a bronze Indian Cent, you can see the clear differences in color. A bronze Indian Cent starts off cherry-red, then begins to oxidize to a reddish-brown, then eventually gets to a straight brown color. A Flying Eagle Cent can be all over the place in color. Whiteish gold, gold, redish gold, red, red brown, brown, tan. They are really diverse in color, and it just isn't as clear cut as bronze Indians. That's also why NGC nor PCGS will color designate Copper-Nickel Indian Cents.
No copper-nickel coins will get a color designation. That also applies to 1859 through 1863 IHC's and the early 1864's.
The trouble is the Flying Eagle Cent is really only available to collectors for two years. The 1856 is a high mintage pattern that has commanded high prices for a long time. The design is attractive in high grade, and there is type collector demand. "Coin Facts" estimates that there are a little over 7,000 Flyers in MS-60 to 64 and close to 700 pieces in MS-65 or bettter. The 1859 Indian Cent without the shield on the reverse is a minor one year type that is recognized by most type collectors. It is scarcer than the Flying Eagle. The copper-nickel Cents are more common that the Flyers. There are over 11,000 in MS-60 to 64. MS-65 and better number over 1,500. To answer you question, the higher prices for the Flying Eagle have to do with both supply and demand with demand giving them the bigger push.
And it is hard to find well-struck examples as well. Mintage may seem high, but a cent had buying power 150+ years ago, and many couldn't afford to put these away. They would also carry them around to show or keep in their pockets. There was no such thing as a plastic flip either.
Also a great many of the cents issued were issued as replacements for the large cents and they had to go into active circulation to fill that role (because the large cents were no longer there.) Also in the early years of the civil war the gold and silver coins disappeared so the cent had to carry the load. (until the nickel content caused them to be hoarded too.) As Finn mentioned they had striking issues with the coin as well. Even with only 12 % nickel the mint still had problems with the hardness of the alloy.
Bump old thread. I didn’t want this in the other amazing thread. Here’s my only one which I remember getting as a kid. I’d put it at XF40.
I don't believe small cents were popular at first. As large cents had more weight and copper in them which gave the customer and merchant more of a feeling of intrinsic value.
In August 1857, people stood in line to exchange their old coins, including the large cents for the new Flying Eagle cents. People did no like the large cents. They were rarely seen in circulation outside of the larger cities. Supporting evidence for this is seen on the surviving coins. The Braided Hair half cents are rarely seen in grades below Choice VF. The large cents from the era also are NOT often seen in low grades.
Often seen in low grades because these coins circulated heavily in commerce. The supporting evidence is exactly the opposite of what you are saying.
I goofed up the last sentance of my post and fixed it. I don't understand your point. You say that the small cents were NOT popular at first because they contained less metal that the large cents. I disagree. I am totally confused with what you are trying to say.
Be patient and keep hunting, I picked this one up for $105.. I know its not MS but a nice coin anyway. Also buy the coin not the slab.
This coin goes to the strike problem with FEs. I bought this one for my type set and have grown increasingly dissatisfied with it but like the OP, I am somewhat appalled at the cost of a nice MS coin.
When I was looking for one of these about 10 years ago, I was stung by the high prices of nice MS examples. So I "settled"for a 58.
Sometime prior to the auction (apparently) this example was pulled and shown as “withdrawn”. It just recently appeared as a possible contemporary counterfeit in the apparent original flip. I contacted a couple of my contacts at Stacks and they helped with scanned images of the catalog and price list. I also talked with David and Harry and they said it wasn't unusual to return an item like this in the original flip to the consignor; both stated they were glad it hadn't been sold! We ruled out a contemporary counterfeit and believe it is a rather deceptive altered date, 1858 Large Letters variety.
