1857 Flying Eagle cent, XF+

Description

1857 Flying Eagle cent, copper-nickel.  This is a high-quality specimen from the mintage year of 1857, when the daring experiment with circulating small cents worked out so well, much to the Mint’s relief in the late 1850s.  Plenty more small cents were minted in the years to come once it was proven that Americans would happily spend that part of small change, breaking us away from the long tradition of emulating the British large copper penny with an American version, the Large Cent (Canada would also do this in the 20th century).  The knowledge that large cents were being phased out and offered for trade-in for new, smaller, copper-nickel versions helped spark coin collecting as a more widespread hobby.
Here we are offering a cent with little wear, in so nice a condition we got a bit of surprise upon receiving it.  This is not Almost Uncirculated, but is just short of that wear level, from comparisons with others online.  It’s the highest of Extremely Fine and would look great in any display venue, coin folder or sent off for encapsulation.  We are enthusiastic about offering this one for your acquisition consideration.