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Updated: March 05, 2024

Indian Head Cent (1859–1909): Values, Varieties, and Rarities

Steven Cochran

Published: March 01, 2024

The Indian Head Cent is one of the most popular coins to collect, surpassed only by the Morgan Dollar. They have been popular from the start. The Indian Head penny replaced the 1857–1858 Flying Eagle Cent, possibly because it was difficult to get a full strike from the design.

Indian Head Cents were minted from 1859 to 1909. The “Indian” on the obverse of the coin was actually Lady Liberty in a stylized Native American headdress. This obverse design would remain unchanged throughout the coin’s history.

RD, RB, BN Indian Cents: What Do They Mean?

Cents are not only graded by condition but also by how much of their original color remains. There are three classifications: Brown (BN), Red-Brown (RB), and Red (RD).

1891 Indian Head Cents graded BN, RB, and RD (PCGS)

These definitions are more subjective than the physical grades laid out in the 1–70 coin grading scale.

Circulated cents and uncirculated ones exposed to air develop a brown, sometimes chocolatey color. All things being equal, cents graded BN are far less desirable to collectors than RB or RD coins. (Note: the prices in this guide are for BN coins, as these are the most common.)

Red-brown cents have a good portion of their original luster remaining. The exact amount of red remaining for a coin to be considered RB can differ among grading services. Some collectors find that certain RB cents can have more eye appeal than a “better” RD coin of the same condition grade.

Red coins have almost all their original luster present. For older cents, this is usually only possible for new coins kept in rolls or airtight containers or from unopened Mint Sets.

Type 1 Indian Head Cent Prices (1859)

The Type 1 Indian Head Cent was only struck for one year: 1859. Because this was the first mintage of a new design and a single-year design at that, many of them were saved. This is also why the 1859 Indian Cent is so popular among collectors today.

The reverse of the 1859 Indian Head Cent had a wreath surrounding the words ONE CENT. The reverse changed in 1860 to feature a thicker wreath separated at the top by a Union Shield to create the Type 2 Indian Head Cent. The 1859 and 1860–1864 Indian Head Cent struck from the same 88% copper and 12% nickel alloy.

1859 Indian Head Cent (Type 1). Graded MS66+ by PCGS

1859 Indian Cent Value

Date	VF-25	XF-45	MS-60	MS-65	Mintage
1859	$65	$175	$425	$3,000	36,400,000

Type 2 Indian Head Cent Prices (1860–1864)

The Type 2 Indian Head Cent retained the 88% copper 12% nickel composition of the 1859 Indian Head and the Flying Eagle Cent before that. The nickel content gave the Type 1 and Type 2 Indian Heads a lighter color than pure copper coins, giving them the nickname “white cents.”

The 1860 Indian Head cent introduced a new reverse design of a thicker wreath (changing from laurel to oak) separated by a Union Shield. These obverse and reverse designs remained the standard for the series throughout the rest of its run.

1860 Indian Head Cent (Type 2). Graded MS67+ by PCGS.

Also in the Type 2 design, introduced late in the second year of production of the Indian Cent series, the obverse used a rounded bustline rather than a pointed one. This made Pointed Bust pennies rarer than the Rounded Bust type, which you can check prices for in the section below.

1860–1864 Indian Head Cent Value

Date	VF-25	XF-45	MS-60	MS-65	Mintage
1860	$40	$85	$245	$1,600	20,566,000
1861	$70	$150	$285	$1,400	10,100,000
1862	$42	$70	$160	$1,350	28,075,000
1863	$42	$80	$165	$950	49,840,000
1864 Type 2	$70	$140	$260	$1,500	13,740,000

Type 3 Indian Head Cent Prices (1864–1909)

At some point during 1864, the US Mint changed the composition of the Indian Head Cent from 88% copper and 12% nickel to a bronze alloy of 95% copper and a 5% mixture of tin and zinc. Apparently, copper prices had gone down. This bronze alloy made it much easier to get a full strike compared to the copper-nickel alloy that came before.

1868 Indian Head Cent (Type 3). Graded MS64 by PCGS

Type 3 Indian Cent Value

Date	VF-25	XF-45	MS-60	MS-65	Mintage
1864 Bronze	$55	$100	$210	$525	39,233,714
1865 "Plain 5"	$58	$95	$240	$675	35,429,286
1865 "Fancy 5"	$44	$95	$175	$700	included above
1866	$130	$260	$410	$1,050	9,826,500
1867	$125	$225	$325	$1,200	9,821,000
1868	$120	$250	$450	$825	10,266,500
1869	$340	$535	$900	$1,550	6,420,000
1870	$310	$485	$825	$1,900	5,275,000
1871	$330	$500	$775	$2,200	3,929,500
1872	$365	$535	$850	$2,600	4,042,000
1873 "Open 3"	$110	$215	$350	$1,200	11,676,500
1873 "Closed 3"	$130	$275	$475	$1,400	included above
1874	$70	$150	$230	$700	14,187,500
1875	$80	$140	$280	$775	13,528,000
1876	$140	$235	$320	$750	7,944,000
1877	$1,600	$2,850	$4,750	$11,500	852,500
1878	$135	$275	$360	$725	5,797,500
1879	$56	$85	$140	$375	16,228,000
1880	$27	$50	$90	$400	38,961,000
1881	$22	$37	$85	$375	39,208,000
1882	$14	$40	$110	$340	38,578,000
1883	$30	$44	$95	$350	45,951,500
1884	$15	$40	$100	$360	23,257,800
1885	$34	$70	$125	$550	11,761,594
1886 var. 1	$75	$175	$260	$775	17,650,000
1886 var. 2	$110	$200	$375	$1,450	included above
1887	$22	$44	$70	$350	45,223,523
1888	$30	$52	$120	$600	37,489,832
1889	$12	$38	$80	$400	48,866,025
1890	$9	$30	$80	$350	57,180,114
1891	$20	$38	$72	$300	47,070,000
1892	$24	$44	$75	$400	37,647,087
1893	$14	$30	$55	$325	46,640,000
1894	$25	$68	$110	$340	16,749,500
1895	$16	$42	$85	$225	38,341,474
1896	$14	$28	$65	$375	39,055,431
1897	$8	$28	$70	$250	50,464,392
1898	$38	$50	$67	$300	49,821,284
1899	$17	$32	$55	$215	53,598,000
1900	$7	$22	$67	$200	66,831,502
1901	$12	$28	$45	$185	79,609,158
1902	$10	$26	$50	$165	87,374,704
1903	$7	$24	$55	$150	85,092,703
1904	$7	$20	$45	$175	61,326,198
1905	$7	$25	$50	$200	80,717,011
1906	$12	$25	$40	$165	96,020,530
1907	$9	$22	$52	$240	108,137,143
1908	$7	$22	$55	$260	32,326,317
1908-S	$145	$210	$350	$1,500	1,115,000
1909 Indian	$15	$30	$60	$210	14,368,470
1909-S Indian	$575	$750	$1,400	$2,800	309,000

Major Indian Head Cent Varieties

There are too many varieties over the 50 years of Indian Head Cents to list here, but here are the most notable ones:

1860 Pointed Bust Indian Head Cent

The Pointed Bust Indian Head Cent was the original design of the coin. Part-way through the year, the obverse design was replaced by one that had a blunter edge to the bustline. Pointed Bust Indian Cents are much rarer than the Rounded Bust.

Date	VF-25	XF-45	MS-60	MS-65
1860 "Pointed Bust"	$65	$130	$450	$3,250

1861 Repunched Date (RPD) Indian Head Cent

The 1861 Indian Head Cent originally had what looks like a sans-serif 1 in the last digit of the date. This was repunched with the proper design, which ended up slightly higher than the offending digit.

Date	VF-25	XF-45	MS-60	MS-65
1861 RPD	$367	$425	$750	$2,000

1864 “L on Ribbon” Indian Head Cent

The 1864 Indian Bronze (Type 3) Indian Head Cent was the first mintage to have the L initial of the artist James Longacre, who was Chief Engraver of the US Mint from 1844 to 1869. The “L on Ribbon” Indian Cent is one of the most popular coins in the series, with prices reflecting that demand.

Date	VF-25	XF-45	MS-60	MS-65
1864 "L on Ribbon"	$200	$300	$470	$1,450

1867/67 Repunched Date (RPD) Indian Head Cent

The 1867/67 Indian penny is a rare mintage that has a dramatic repunch of the last two digits of the date. The repunched digits are prominent enough to be seen with the naked eye without needing to hunt for it.

Date	VF-25	XF-45	MS-60	MS-65
1867/67 RPD	$460	$875	$1,550	$6,500

1873 “Doubled Liberty” DDO Indian Head Cent

The 1873 Indian Head Cent DDO is better known as the “Doubled Liberty” DDO. While the die doubling is easily seen on Liberty’s nose and eye, it is the extremely strong doubling of the word “LIBERTY” on the headdress that is most obvious.

Date	VF-25	XF-45	MS-60	MS-65
1873 "Doubled Liberty"	$1,600	$3,650	$7,750	unknown in this grade

1888/7 Repunched Date (RPD) Indian Head Cent

The 1888/7 Indian Cent RPD is a popular variety that is not immediately obvious. The date was originally punched as 1887 before the 7 was overpunched by an 8. Most of the examples were found in circulation before the mistake was widely known. This means that an unknown number of this variety had the error worn away before collectors started looking for them.

Date	VF-25	XF-45	MS-63	MS-65
1888/7 RPD	$6,250	$12,500	$75,000	unknown in this grade

1894/1894 Repunched Date (RPD) Indian Head Cent

The 1894/1894 Indian Head penny has the entire date repunched. This is most dramatic on Mint State coins, where the pieces of the underdate, especially the top of the 4, make a spectacular sight.