1877 Indian Head Cent Base
Base
About This Coin
The 1877 Indian Head Cent Base is a United States cent from the Indian Head Cents 1859-1909 series — 19th of 51 years in the series. In 1877, coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint with a combined mintage of 853,400. This represents the lowest annual mintage in the entire series, below the series median of 39.0 million. The obverse features Liberty wearing a feathered headdress, often misidentified as a Native American — actually represents Liberty adorned with a chief's war bonnet and the reverse displays an oak wreath with a shield at the top, enclosing ONE CENT. The undisputed key date of the series with a mintage of only 852,500 — the lowest regular-issue Indian Head Cent. Struck in 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc, weighing 3.11 grams, 19 mm in diameter, with a plain edge. Across its variants, estimated values range from $666 to $7.8K depending on mint mark, grade, and strike type. A notable auction result reached $71K in GEM BU grade at Stack's. Designed by James Barton Longacre.
Value Estimates
Values as of May 2026 — range across all strike types, reflecting typical grades (G-4 through MS-63). Coins in lower or exceptional grades may fall outside this range.
