Calling all farmers: Flying Eagle cent reverse design

In the Wikipedia entry for the Flying Eagle Cent, it is quoted from the Snow book * that: "An ear of corn is also visible."

Is Snow talking about the two devices at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock that I have labelled in red?

* Snow, Richard (2009). A Guide Book of Flying Eagle and Indian Head Cents. Atlanta, Ga.: Whitman Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7948-2831-8.

Are the other items labelled correctly? Did I miss anything?

Am I OCD? Yes, sometimes... besides, it sounds better than "anal retentive"... ;-)

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I would say so, the yellow label. Too bad we use the word corn incorrectly. Corn is a generic word meaning any grain, maize is what we call corn here.

 

Learning languages has taught me one thing: when we use a word wrong long enough, it becomes the right word.

 

Like calling a cent, a penny?

 

Interesting, I never really noticed the variety of types of plants on the reverse of this coin. That's neat.

Yes, but in all fairness...that started out innocently enough. When the first large cents starting circulating...they did so along with British Pennies. So, they sorta got combined in the nomenclature.

 

Like "branch Mint" too.

Since the Coinage Act of 1873 which moved the Mint Director at Philadelphia to the new Mint Bureau in D.C. (reporting to the Treasury Sec'y), and installed a superintendent in Philly just like the other locations, all Mints were deemed equal (though clearly Philly maintained some extra responsibility for things like design and engraving). The names of the Mints were also revised for consistency and equality.

And yet we still see terms like branch mint and penny used casually by these agencies.
Lance.

 

I think you have all the flora covered, but there is also a ribbon.

 

Excellent point... thank you.

Now does anyone know what type of KNOT that is? Or do I need to start another thread directed at the Boy Scouts in the crowd? ;-)

 

I would say it's a "Bow Knot" due to the fact it has two loops. Unlike the reverse of the Liberty Head Cent that replaced it.

 

The wreath on the reverse is also derivative, having been previously used on Longacre's Type II gold dollar of 1854, and the three-dollar piece of the same year. It is composed of leaves of wheat, corn, cotton and tobacco, thus including produce associated with both the North and the South . The cotton leaves are sometimes said to be maple leaves; the two types are not dissimilar, and maple leaves are more widely known than cotton leaves. An ear of corn is also visible.