JTO's Type Set of US Coins Real and Debased
1C EAGLE (1856-1858)

Owner Comments:

This is the first circulating small cent. Nickel was added to give the smaller coin more intrinsic value. If you look at the pictures it becomes readily apparent that this is a business strike rather than a proof. This was verified by Rick Snow to be a Snow 3 variety. The Snow 3 was made in 1856 and likely distributed to the politically influential to test the waters of a "small" copper-nickel cent to replace the large copper cent. Although not all Snow 3 coins are circulation strikes, the majority are. The majority of Flying Eagle cents that come to market are of the Snow-9 variety. These are all re-strike proofs that were minted well after 1856. They can be identified, in part, by the centering dot on the reverse below the upper left serif on the "N" in the word CENT. Obviously it is absent on this coin. After looking at a lot of 1856 Flying Eagle coins, I have concluded (maybe correctly and maybe not) that they were all struck on proof planchets with some getting the circulation production speed strike and others getting the proof treatment. Of course because neither PCGS nor NGC could get the designation correct, and most coins were struck as proofs (about a 6:1 ratio) the grading services grade them all as proofs and get the designation wrong once out of every seven times. The problem is that most Snow 3 coins are circulation strikes, and the MS is worth more than the proof designated coin (like the 1872 2c piece.) The score for a proof Flying Eagle in the NGC type sets is higher than for the circulation strike but in the case of the 1856 the circulation strike is the more valuable coin. So here is a circulation strike coin that NGC refuses to consider as a circulation strike so certifies it as a proof strike which earns the coin more points for being designated as a less valuable coin... clear as mud.