The Flying Eagle cent

Wow! What an amazing grade.

 

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This issue has been on my wish list for a number of years. Love the design! I'm willing to plunk down up to a grand to get a really nice one but seems every time I run across one at that level that calls my name, that said grand is not in my pocket!

 

I certainly will agree with everyone, this is a beautiful coin.

 

I just think the there is great symbolism in a flying eagle, as opposed to one just standing around. The people were on the move, and they were led by our natonal bird on the wing. I wish they would do it again.

 

I knew Larry would show the one he's gonna sell me one day.

 

I love the design - so why exactly was the Flying Eagle design retired so quickly? I recall reading that there was a problem minting them but I'm too lazy at the moment to look it up. Die breakage? Poor strikes?

 

Here are the two Flyers that are in my collection. This one is PCGS graded MS-65.



This 1858 is NGC graded MS-64. Oddly enough PCGS bounced this back to me in a "body bag" because they said it was artificially toned. I was not pleased to say the least. I felt like sending them a match book cover that offered a course in coin grading. NGC gave it a grade, which it deserved. This happened about 20 years ago.



Here is an interesting observation. I believe that James Longacre "borrowed" the design that appeared on the reverse of the Gobrecht Dollar for the Flying Eagle Cent. Here is that reverse. What do you think?



The mint was making restrikes of the Gobrecht Dollar in the late 1850s at the time when the agency introduced the Flying Eagle Cent. This Gobrecht Dollar is an original 1836 strike with the eagle flying "onward and upward." It is a PCGS PR-62, CAC.

This Gobrecht Dollar was probably struck in the late 1850s.

 

I'll probably trade it for a $20 gold piece one of these days.

 

An 1857 $20 gold? Lol!

 

I wanted to be able to see all the feathers without spending a fortune. This is my only one, but it satisfied my needs.

Can we imagine it’s flying in this photo?

 

These are not quite Flying Eagle Cents, but rather Roman 'Flying Eagle Denarii' (actually called Legionary denarii).

These coins illustrates how the depiction of eagles on coinage, so beautifully executed on Flying Eagle cents, actually goes back at least 2000 years...

These denarii where specially struck to pay Roman Legionaries for their service in the Legions. In this case, the Legions of Mark Anthony (Mark Anthony and Cleopatra), and those of Septimius Severus.

 

PCGS XF45


NGC G4 Struck Off Center

FE mint errors are very rare.