Buffalo Nickel

1913 - 1938

The name “Buffalo Nickel” is actually a misnomer, as the animal appearing on the reverse is in fact a Buffalo Nickel (Indian Head Five Cents)bison and not a buffalo. The true name of this very popular coin is the Five Cent Indian Head, however, the name “Buffalo Nickel” seems to have been set as its most widely used and accepted name.

The obverse of the Buffalo Nickel features a portrait of a Native American. The “Indian Head” was actually a composite of three different chiefs; John Big Tree, Iron Tail and Two Moons. The word “LIBERTY” appears next to the rim on the upper right side across from the Native American’s eyes. Read more

Draped Bust Dime

1796–1807

The Draped Bust Dime, also called the Small Eagle design, was the first dime to be circulated in the United Draped Bust DimeStates. The 1796 dated Draped Bust Dime was actually minted in October of 1795 with a total of only 42,378 pieces being struck. This design for the dime continued through the year 1807, however, no dimes were struck for the years 1799 and 1806. The Draped Bust design was used on all U.S. silver coins beginning in 1796. All Draped Bust Dimes were struck at the Philadelphia Mint, so none of the coins bear a mintmark.

The design for Lady Liberty for the obverse was taken from a drawing by Gilbert Stuart, of an actual woman, Ann Willing Bingham. Draped Bust Dimes struck in 1796 have 15 stars, one for each state that existed at the time. Read more

Seated Liberty Dime

1837 - 1891

Seated Liberty Dime

Seated Liberty Dime

The Seated Liberty Dime was designed by Christian Gobrecht and first minted in 1837. The obverse features Lady Liberty sitting on a rock, in her right hand she holds the Union Shield inscribed with the word “LIBERTY” and in her left hand she holds a long staff. The reverse side of the 1837 dime is very simple with “One Dime” in the center encircled by a laurel wreath which is tied at the bottom with a bow and the words “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” in an arc along the top.

The 1837 issue was minted in two varieties; Large Date and Small Date. The Small Date variety is a little more rare than the Large Date. The easiest way to differentiate the two varieties is to look at the “3″ and “7″ in the date. Read more

Standing Liberty Quarter

1916 - 1930

The Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar was produced from 1916 to 1930, which was relatively short-lived for a Standing Liberty Quartercoin, especially one of such nice design. It is interesting to note that no quarter dollars were minted in 1922. The coins were struck in; Philadelphia (no mintmark), San Francisco (S), and Denver (D), with a total of over 226 million coins for all years and mintmarks combined.

In its first year the obverse of the Standing Liberty Quarter featured a bare breasted Lady Liberty. In 1917 designer Hermon A. MacNeil was pressured to change the design. Perhaps the designer was making a statement when he changed the design by adding a coat of chain mail to Liberty’s breasts. MacNeil was a well known sculptor and had won the US Mints design competition for the new quarter. Read more

Flying Eagle Cent

1856 - 1858

The collecting of small cents is second in popularity only to the Morgan Dollar. The first small cent was the Flying Eagle CentFlying Eagle Cent which was minted for a very short time from 1856 to 1858. A second restrike of the coin was made in 1860, but those are questionable among collectors.

By 1851 it cost the mint $1.06 to produce one dollar’s face value, 100 coins, of the large cent. Large Cents of the time were composed of 100% pure copper and were a huge 27 to 29 mm in diameter. Although the first Flying Eagle Cent was minted in 1856 it wasn’t until 1857 that it was recognized officially as the replacement for the Large Cent. All the way up into 1857 both varieties were minted. Read more

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