Indian Heads vs Lincolns...

shylock

Maybe the toughest question in US numismatics is which is the quintessential US small cent ?

Make your case for either.

The IH with all its strange varieties, different mixes of copper, and classic design.
The Lincoln with its century long longevity (amazing), and incredible popularity.

fcloud

The Indian Head cent.

The other one has a dead president on it. I wish we could move on from putting dead presidents on coins.

goldboy

I actually like both, but I would have to lean toward the IHC (even though it does not feature a real "indian" on the coin........................shame on the mint!)

DMWJR

Hands down -- Lincoln.

doh

I agree with the sentiment of not putting dead Presidents on coins. That being said, I still say the Lincoln is the quintessential cent. It's been around 100 years. MANY, MANY coin collectors got their start with Lincs. It's full of key dates that even non-collectors know (S-VDB....try asking a non-collector about an 1877 IHC...). I actually collected IHCs and love them, but as far as what cent is "quintessential," I have to go with Mr. Lincoln.

Cheers, B

shylock

goldboy - I actually like both, but I would have to lean toward the IHC (even though it does not feature a real "indian" on the coin........................shame on the mint!)

Agreed.

The IH may actually be designed using Longacre's daughter Sarah as the model.

image c/o Rick Snow

But unlike the Lincoln obverse, which has been redesigned through the years into a cartoon,
the Indian Cent redesigns kept some degree of integrity.

Gemineye

If I were born a hundred years before I was born I would be collecting Indian Head Cents....

percyb

Depends what part of the country you come from. South of the Mason Dixon line, I'd have to say the Indian Head. You all up north there may think differently.

Pushkin

<< <i>Maybe the toughest question in US numismatics is which is the quintessential US small cent ?

Make your case for either.

The IH with all its strange varieties, different mixes of copper, and classic design.
The Lincoln with its century long longevity (amazing), and incredible popularity. >>




Definition of quintessential - the most perfect embodiment of something.


Lincolns are OK and IHCs are nice, but your thread title is not inclusive enough in relation to your use of quintessential.

Flying Eagle cents are the quintessential US small cent - the others aren't even close .

speety

Ummm...flying eagle cents get my vote

Between lincolns and IHCs, I'd have to go with the IHC though.

RBinTex

No poll?

EagleEye

Longacre thought the use of the Indian a better representative of American "Liberty". He wrote:

To us it is more appropriate than the Phrygian cap; the emblem rather of the emancipated slave, than of the independent freeman, of those who are able to say “we are never in bondage to any man”. I regard then this emblem of America, as a proper and well defined portion of our national inheritance: and having now the opportunity of consecrating it as a memorial of Liberty, our Liberty, American Liberty: why not use it? One more graceful can scarcely be devised: we have only to determine that it shall be appropriate and all the world outside of us, cannot wrest it from us.

Unfortunately, The American Indian went from freedom to total subdugation in the span that the cent that honored their freedom was made.

FilthyBroke

<< <i>Maybe the toughest question in US numismatics is which is the quintessential US small cent ?

>>



That's like asking to choose your favorite kid. They bridged different eras and are both rich with history. The civil war era, WWI and WWII, the westward expansion and gold rush... the depression.....
America grew up on copper, probably more so than silver OR gold.
Long live the penny!

LeeG

<< <i>Maybe the toughest question in US numismatics is which is the quintessential US small cent ?

The Lincoln with its century long longevity (amazing), and incredible popularity. >>


+ Varieties, small mintage of Proofs, very tough early "S" and "D" Mint coins, and the Lincoln Cent wins hands down!!

DuPapa

Depends what part of the country you come from. South of the Mason Dixon line, I'd have to say the Indian Head. You all up north there may think differently.

I like the coin, to be sure, but not the man (To us Confederates, he's a War Criminal).
by percyb
----------------------------------------------------------

Well dang percyb, Shoot son, Ya'll musta purt-neer got thru John Wilkes Booth L M tary wiff talk like dat.
Still mad about that whoop'en ya'll got? Shoot son, it was worst den a whoop'en, Ya'll got beat like a rented mule and are still sore and asmart'en.

Miss them days when you could own some black people and treat them like beasts to do your biddings and feel superior?

Good ol' boys..... truely and profoundly pathetic, amoral and entirely an anti-american bunch, of course being a confederate that won't mean much to you..

BlindedByEgo

<< <i>I actually like both, but I would have to lean toward the IHC (even though it does not feature a real "indian" on the coin........................shame on the mint!)
>>



Hey! That's my great-great-great auntie you're talkin' 'bout there

EagleEye

We need a Injun penny for comparison here...

Barbercoin

Now that's I've heard different opinions, I'm somewhat swayed.

At first I liked the IHC for this, but the Lincoln ends up on top. I like its perseverance . It's been through 2 World Wars, the great depression, and another presidential assassination. In light of that, it still garners great appeal.

Not that any of the other coins aren't great.

OneCent

Wow! What a difficult choice...IHC or Lincolns?

From a pure artistic point of view it is difficult to beat Lady Liberty in an Indian Headress. Perhaps one of the finest obverse design on any US coin. The historical period which the Indian Head cent spanned was also very rich...Civil war through TR's Presidential Administration and the coming out party for the U.S. as a certified World Power.

Having said all that, with great deliberation, I would have to choose the Lincoln Cent. Somehow this coin represents the essence of the American people more so than any other US coin. The humblest of all US Presidents adorning the obverse and the "earthy"wheat ears gracing the reverse embody the coin with a "salt of the earth" character that is so fitting for the one cent denomination. Numismatically speaking and as others have articulated, the Lincoln cent is responsible for more collectors than any other U.S. coin. Plus the mythical status and conditional rarity of the early date "S" and "D" mints adds an additional allure to this tremendous coin.

dorkkarl

gotta say, i love the he11 out of both series

do'nt make me choose!

K S

ArizonaJack

4 Score and 7 years ago

Abe by a mile

percyb

<< <i>Well dang percyb, Shoot son, Ya'll musta purt-neer got thru John Wilkes Booth L M tary wiff talk like dat.
Still mad about that whoop'en ya'll got? Shoot son, it was worst den a whoop'en, Ya'll got beat like a rented mule and are still sore and asmart'en.

Miss them days when you could own some black people and treat them like beasts to do your biddings and feel superior?

Good ol' boys..... truely and profoundly pathetic, amoral and entirely an anti-american bunch, of course being a confederate that won't mean much to you.. >>



Yes sir Mr. DuPapa, we got some long memory, for certain.

Ya'll should be wishin we won the war, given the current state of the nation...and the border issues. Go back and read your history though mr DuPapa. Was northerners had slaves as well...in fact, imported most of 'em up thar in New Yanks and shipped 'em all down sout'. So maybe there was a different reason for that civil war you alluded to. Yep, you read that history book a little closer and find that there war had something to do with coin...$$. Check on it.

Have to say I like both them coins, just favor the IHC. Thank you sir.

Texast

I'll choose the Flying Eagle Cent also, no love lost for Lincoln in the South, and don't care much for the Fake Indian Cent

CalGold

When I was growing up kids collected Lincolns but covetedIndians. They might own an album of Lincolns but nothing was cooler than an Indian.

OneCent

<< <i>When I was growing up kids collected Lincolns but covetedIndians. They might own an album of Lincolns but nothing was cooler than an Indian.

Exactly my experience as well...you could find most of the wheaties either in circulation or Pop's Maxwell House Coffee Can. Indian Head Cents were the holy grail.

I have great affinity for both:

Lakesammman

I like the IHC's but have to admit, if Oreville hadn't beat me to it, I would have said the FE cent is my favorite.

GoldenEyeNumismatics

I'd be willing to bet the Lincoln Cent has introduced more people into the bobby than any other series, save for maybe the state quarters.

So I say the Lincoln cent!

lordmarcovan

Numismatically speaking, I like Indian cents a little bit more, but I would have to vote for the Lincoln cent as the quintessential US small cent, mostly for its longevity and popularity.

Then again, the Indian Heads were around for a long time, too.

But I gotta go with the Lincoln on this one.

BECOKA

<< <i>Ummm...flying eagle cents get my vote

Between lincolns and IHCs, I'd have to go with the IHC though. >>



Ditto, flying eagle cents would be my first choice also. IHC's would come in second because many are still affordable.

commoncents05

Lincolns are my current favorite, but I hope to put together a nice Indian and Flyer set sometime.

-Paul

mcgrover

the '55 double die and '09 S VDB are American cultural icons, even forces of nature, which have permeated the minds of a generation in this country spanning half a century or more. My sense is that women and girls are not so permeated, maybe because they may not be so tuned or attracted to the treasure-hunting component of searching small change, but I may be wrong about this. The IHC generation has fallen away from us, as has the confederacy.

shylock

CalGold - When I was growing up kids collected Lincolns but coveted Indians. They might own an album of Lincolns but nothing was cooler than an Indian.

I grew up in the same climate. The first Indian Cent I found was an exotic thing, and made a lasting impression.
After seeing Lincoln on the only pennies I knew it blew my mind to see an indian on one. How strange was that!
And it looked so impressive compared to Lincoln in his 1960's design.

Cut to 30 years later when I saw a mint state business strike Indian Head advertised for sale on the internet.
All those childhood memories rekindled.

All due respects to the Flying Eagle and Lincoln cent...

Nothing is cooler than the Indian Head cent.