1908 S Indian Head Penny|1908 S Penny-First US Cent With A Mintmark!

by Andrew Spaeth on Friday, February 26th, 2010 | No Comments

The 1908 S Indian head penny was the first US cent to bear a mint mark.

Until 1908 all US pennies were issued from the Philadelphia Mint. The S stands for the San Francisco branch of the mint.

The 1908 S Indian head penny has the third lowest mintage of the series at just 1,115,000 coins, making it one of the key dates of the series. The 1908 S Indian head penny is one of only two coins in the Indian Cent series to have a mint mark. The other is the 1909 S Indian Head Penny.

The mint mark is located just right of center under the bow on the reverse of the coin.

Prior to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, gold and silver coins were the only ones in circulation and transactions were rounded to the nearest nickel. The use of the cent on the West Coast was needed to allow for smaller incremental price changes and to pay the small amounts a new sales tax required. It also allowed for street car fare to be raised from 5 to 6 cents a trip.

The 1908 S Indian head penny would fill the void needed to allow for the streetcar fare increase from 5 to 6 cents.

The entire mintage of the 1908 S Indian head penny was delivered on February 27 1908. The coin was a novelty to the local population who were not accustomed to penny coinage, and this date circulated widely at the outset. After the Lincoln Cent replaced the Indian head penny in 1909, these coins were selectively removed from circulation.

When choosing a 1908 S Indian head penny for purchase keep in mind that the values for a G-4 or VG-8 coin are not much less than a coin in F-12 or VF-20 condition. The latter two coins will have a full LIBERTY in the headdress and will be much more attractive than the more worn lower grade coins. The value ranges from $77 in G-4 to$285 in MS-60 with higher grade uncirculated coins going as high as $2650. Bright red uncirculated coins will command higher prices than their brown or red brown counterparts.