I have been thinking of buying a few Flying Eagle cents, anyone know about what it would cost to purchase a decent condition for each year? Also why did the series only run for 3 years? Would like to see some of everyone if they would like to post them on here as well. Looking for ones in this condition maybe a little less to save on cost.
Good luck finding a 1856 at a decent price since there were only what, 750 business strikes for circulation and 1500 proof strikes.
As long as the budget is not you know...mortgage like. Then it's pretty much a 2-year series. There is some light in the end of the tunnel however. There are some pretty nice varieties that are still out in the wild. The most sought after are the 1857 50 cent/25 cent/$20 double eagle clashes and the 1858/7 overdate. These are still being cherrypicked every so often, I found myself a 50 cent seated clash a few months ago.
Well, a G4 1856 will cost ya at about $5000 or so starting price, hopefully that's within your budget. For the 57 and 58, you can find those in F or VF probably anywhere between $25 to $65 or so from what I've seen them going for. I picked a 58 up about a year ago in VF condition for about $40 or so if I recall correctly.
You can add numerous (and a few rather significant) doubled dies to the list. Also, and considering the high cost of a 56, one can always buy an example of a 57 with the 56 style obverse lettering. This is obviously not a solution for everyone, but for someone wishing to have more than two date specimens, it could be an interesting substitution. As for the OP's original question regarding costs and series history, the first thing he should do is a little homework to better familiarize himself with his interest. Only he can say what he believes a "decent" coin to be, and as with any series, appreciating the design is but one aspect of appreciating the type itself. Very nice! I do enjoy it each time you share these, thank you.
It was a low VF, maybe 20-25ish. Still lots of detail and a very acceptable "middle of the road" example.
As much as I love the design, I never bought an 1856. Same story for the 1916-D Dime. It would have killed my coin budget and I had a lot of fun spending that same money, on many other really cool coins.
I completely understand why the public didn't like the design. For me, it appears that the coin has two reverses.
