2017-06-13 Tue

The two-headed 1859 Indian Head cent was recorded for the first time when U.S. pattern specialist Edgar H. Adams who bought it from the William H. Gable Collection at S.H. Chapman’s sale in May 1914 for $20. Some experts stated that it is the only error from a bigger production run that was abandoned after the error was discovered by the press operator.

The 1858 Flying Eagle cents used the obverse die as the anvil die. When production of Indian cents began in 1859, the obverse Die turned into the hammer die when the production of Indian cents started in 1859. This was possible because die blank configurations were revised in 1859. A blank die left over with the 1858 configuration was used for an 1859 obverse die for the anvil position. It was mated with a second 1859 obverse die that was supposed to be used for a hammer position. The coin is graded Mint State 62.