1864 1c Copper Nickel PR

1864 Copper-Nickel Cent Production: Due to inaction on the part of Congress, the Mint was required to continue striking the copper-nickel cents in 1864. They were bought up by speculators and offered to the public only at a premium, even though their bullion value never reached a point where it was profitable to melt them down. These coins traded at a premium because the alternatives in circulation were worse. Merchants and their customers had to deal with paper money that seemed to lose value every week. Small change was made with postage stamps, Fractional Currency notes, and private copper tokens. When it came to silver and gold, any holder of federal coins could expect to get favorable discounts from merchants for using them instead of the alternatives. The copper-nickel cents were last struck in May.

Survivability: Almost all 1864 cents were removed from circulation as soon as they were released. After the war, they came out and circulated extensively for about ten more years. Examples that escaped the recoinage redemption of the 1870’s may have circulated for another 20 more years. (For a record of minor coins redeemed from 1871 to 1881, see page 102.)

Collecting Challenges: This is one of the toughest dates in the copper-nickel series to find with attractive eye appeal. As such, collectors should put more effort into finding this date with a sharp strike and attractive luster.

Collecting Circulated Pieces: The optimal collecting grade for circulated coins is EF-40. Examples are typically mushy with average strikes. Searching for early-diestate examples will take some patience.

Collecting Mint State Pieces: The optimal collecting grade for Mint State coins is MS-64. These typically lack eye appeal. Many are struck with worn dies and exhibit a grayish color. Search out examples with better luster and a sharp strike.

Collecting Proof Issues: These tend to be of a very high quality. They are a bit more common than the Proof cents of 1863, probably due to a higher survivability rate. High-grade coins usually come with deep mirrors. Cameo contrast is available on about 50% of these.

The year sets sold by the Mint were usually produced early in the year. Therefore most sets contained only one cent, the copper-nickel cent.

There are only a few minor repunched dates known. A defective digit punch has what looks like repunching under the horizontal bar of the 4. Since the defect is on the punch, many dies show this feature.

Greysheet Catalog ID (GSIDSM) is the universal standard for cataloging and identification of U.S. and World Coins and Bank