1864 Indian Head Cent 2-Piece Set

1864 was a big year for the Indian Head Cent -- it saw the coin transition from being struck from copper and nickel to being mostly copper with miniscule amounts of tin and zinc, aka the 'Bronze' Cent as collectors call it -- this composition would be used by the U.S. Mint until 1962.

This change came about thanks to a sharp rise in precious metal prices and the hoarding of gold, silver, and copper coins during the Civil War -- simply put. the Mint had to find a way to make production costs lower and the one cent pieces metal change was part of that initiative.

This was a big change for the Mint, and it couldn't happen overnight -- so they would end up striking both versions of the coin for 1864 -- and compared to today's mintages, they both are incredibly low:

The 1864 Copper-Nickels Indian Head Cent: 13,740,000 coins
The 1864 'Bronze' Indian Head Cent: 39,233,714 coins

For perspective, we struck 4,522,800,000 Shield Cents in 2023 -- that is over 12,563,333 coins every day!

That means, every four days the U.S. Mint today strikes more coins than the entirety of the 1864 Indian Head Cents mintages combined (52,973,714 coins).

Each 2-piece set will arrive with each coin encapsulated and in collector's quality circulated condition.