The new pieces were identical in diameter to modern cents, though thicker. In 1857, the Mint reduced the size of the cent and changed the composition to 12% nickel and 88% copper ( copper-nickel), issuing a new design, the Flying Eagle cent. Cent and half-cent manufacture was one of the only profit centers for the Mint and by 1850 it began looking for alternatives. As gold became more abundant, the price of copper rose. The discovery of gold in California caused a large inflation in prices.
It was designed by James Barton Longacre, the Chief Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint.įrom 1793 to 1857, the cent was a copper coin about the size of a half dollar. The Indian Head cent, also known as an Indian Head penny, was a one-cent coin ($0.01) produced by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1859 to 1909.
