1858 Flying Eagle Cent - 8/7 Weak

Coin Details

Auction Record

Description

This is the 1858/7 overdate variety of the 1858 Flying Eagle Cent. Dies were expensive, and a serviceable die left over at the end of a year was often kept and re-dated rather than destroyed: the new digits were punched directly over the old ones. The earlier date survives underneath wherever its strokes fall outside the digits punched over it, which is why an overdate is read from the shapes that do not belong to the date as printed. The effect is in the die, so every coin struck from it carries the same remnant in the same position. Any mintage given below counts the entire issue for this date and mint, not this variety: a variety comes from one die or a few, and how many coins they struck was never separately recorded. Produced at the Philadelphia Mint, the 1858 Flying Eagle Cent - 8/7 Weak is part of the Flying Eagle Cents 1856-1858 series. The 1858 Flying Eagle Cent issue as a whole had a mintage of 24.6 million; how many coins carry this variety is unknown. The obverse features a flying eagle in mid-flight, adapted from the Gobrecht dollar reverse and the reverse displays a wreath enclosing ONE CENT. Two major varieties exist: Large Letters and Small Letters, referring to the size of the legend on the obverse. The design was replaced by the Indian Head Cent in 1859 due to striking difficulties caused by the high-relief eagle. Struck in 88% copper, 12% nickel, weighing 4.67 grams, 19 mm in diameter, with a plain edge. Cataloged as PCGS #532214.