The 1877 Indian Head Penny: The Granddaddy Of Indian Head Penny Key Dates

by Andrew Spaeth on Monday, November 29th, 2010 | No Comments

1877 Indian Head penny Overview:

With a mintage of only 852,000 coins, the 1877 Indian head penny is one of the scarcest in the series and is the Granddaddy of Indian head penny key dates. It is ironic though that the lowest mintage amongst the Indian head penny key dates belongs to the 1909 S Indian head penny, but the 1877 Indian head penny is the most expensive.

The rarity of the 1877 Indian head penny is due to the poor economic outlook in the United States during the 1870's and the Mint Act Of 1871. This act authorized the mint to redeem all coins previously minted in copper or nickel alloy and reissue the cents. At first they were melted and re-minted but beginning in 1874, it was decided that the redeemed cents were just as easily returned to circulation rather than melting them and re-minting them.

This had a huge impact on the mintage of new coins during the 1870's, and nearly 10,000,000 previously minted cents were reissued in 1877, making the need for a large 1877 Indian head penny mintage low. The 852,000 number seems high given that there is only one reverse die known in the 1877 year, which has a shallow "N" like the 1872 year. The average die life for pennies during this time is only 150,000 to 250,000 coins, and this one reverse die would have been smashed to pieces long before 852,000 coins were minted.

It is much more likely that the 1877 Indian head penny had a mintage closer to 200,000 coins, and combined with the nearly 10 million redeemed cents for the year, the 1877 Indian head penny was a scarce coin from the moment it was released. It is likely that many were melted or destroyed further limiting the availability of an already scarce date. These coins were not saved as a general rule, leaving many well circulated examples and relatively few higher grade or uncirculated examples.

Counterfeits of the 1877 Indian Head Penny:

Because of its high value the 1877 Indian head penny is a highly counterfeited coin. The most common way to counterfeit an 1877 Indian head penny is to alter the date of an 1875 or 1879 Indian head penny. Because of the fact that ALL circulation strikes of the 1877 Indian Head penny have the weak "N" reverse, and the 1879 and 1875 coins have the bold "N" reverse, this is an easy way to authenticate. That is not to say that any 1877 Indian head penny with a bold "N" reverse is a counterfeit, because the proof issue 1877 Indian head penny was struck with a bold "N" die. It would be possible for a circulated proof coin to be mistaken for a counterfeit. When buying an 1877 Indian head penny, it is best to stick with coins graded and authenticated by one of the well known major grading services like PCGS. This will minimize the chance of your 1877 Indian head penny being a counterfeit.