W. I. Indianhead Cents
1877

Owner Comments:

The reported mintage of 862,500 cents for 1877 is highly suspect. That figure is likely the number of cents issued by the mint in 1877 but likely the majority of those coins carried dates earlier than 1877. Mint records show the mint had nearly 10 million cents on hand in 1876 that carried earlier dates. Many of these coins were still serviceable and could have been reissued. In the mid 1870's the mint was generally able to strike between 80,000 and 120,000 cents from a die before wear made it necessary to replace the die. Third party graders have reported that they have seen only two obverse dies and a single reverse die used to strike 1877 cents. No 1877 cents have been discovered to have been struck from worn dies or from dies that were failing.