1856 Flying Eagle Pennies

The 1856 Flying Eagle penny is unique in that not only was it not struck with intention for circulation, but with only two years of official minting between 1857 and 1858, it ties the 20-cent piece as the shortest run coin series in the history of the United States. Although not considered a true coin issue, this 1956 penny is still considered a collectible coin and is highly sought after as the true key date of the short-lived Flying Eagle cent series.

The Act of February 21st, 1857 laid ground for a new framework for small cents to alleviate the cost of large cents, with soaring copper prices making those modern-day quarter-sized coins economically unfeasible. James B. Longacre had already designed the new coin and the corresponding 1856 pennies were minted as a pattern coin to be presented to Congress as a preview of what the circulated issues would look like starting in 1857, the year that the general public would first find Flying Eagle pennies in their pockets.

Exact mintage numbers are not clear, but it is estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 1856 Flying Eagle pennies were minted to make the rounds in Washington, D.C. that year. Given its unique nature, 1856 Flying Eagle penny values start at an eye-watering $8,750 for average circulated specimens in a grade of Good-4 and rise steadily from there. In fact, pristine circulated pennies can be worth up to $15,000 and uncirculated specimens can top $25,000. Proof strikes were also minted as collector pieces and are worth between $15,000 and $30,000

Coin collectors looking to complete this short series of only two true issues will have much less of a problem obtaining the 1857 and 1858 specimens and can still consider their collection of Flying Eagle pennies complete given that the 1856 penny technically never circulated. That said, a Flying Eagle penny collection that includes this unique 1956 pattern coin is truly something special.