It all started in 1849 when Congress was initially presented with the idea of producing smaller cents. The idea was to make them less expensive due to their smaller size.

Incidentally, the U.S. Mint had been producing Large Cents since 1793. However, late in the large cent's tenure, the Mint was actually spending more money to produce large cents than the coin's face value. During this time period, the one cent coin was necessary for day-to-day transactions. However, many people disliked carrying large cents and who can blame them? Even today, many of us wouldn't want to carry a Sacagawea or Presidential Dollar in our pockets and these are a bit smaller than large cents in diameter.

Due the escalating seignorage issues in 1850, the U.S. Mint began to experiment with smaller cents and different metal alloys. However, several problems arose with some of the experimental cents. Furthermore, it was also believed that the experimental cents could easily be counterfeited because of their weight and as a result, the Mint had to continue experimenting with different metal alloys. The experimentation with different alloys proved to be extremely challenging as several problems arose with the weights and with the designs, so experimenting continued for several years.

Finally, once the Mint settled on the correct metal alloys and weights and designs were figured out, it commenced producing the new cents late in 1856 and continued until 1858 at different intervals. The obverse of the 1856 cents portrayed a beautiful large and intricately detailed Flying Eagle design originally used on the Gobrecht Dollars from 1836 - 1838. The Eagle design was believed to have been modeled after Pete, the Philadelphia Mint's mascot. Unfortunately, one day Pete was caught in a flywheel, which broke one if his wings. A few days later, Pete the Mascot died, but his depiction would live on for years. Today, it is still admired on the 1856 Flying Eagle cent. The reverse design displays an elegant agricultural wreath adorned with tobacco, wheat, corn and a corn ear. The words "ONE CENT" are largely depicted at the center on the reverse of the coin.

The 1856 Flying Eagle cents were initially produced with the intent of presenting examples to members of Congress and other dignitaries. Records indicate that at least 634 examples were produced for this purpose alone. In the ensuing months, more examples were believed to have been produced at different intervals to be presented to additional government officials and dignitaries. Other examples are also believed to have been made for collectors who were aware of 1856-dated coins and desired one of their own. These coins are believed to be the S-9 (Snow-9 variety).

The 1856 Flying Eagle cents created a frenzy of new collectors like America had never seen before, as just about anyone who knew about the 1856 dated cents wanted one for their own personal collections. Consequently, many experts refer to all 1856 cents as patterns since they were made mainly for presentation purposes. Since so many of them went into circulation and some were also produced in large volumes similar to circulation strike coins, others consider some of the 1856 cents to be circulation strike coins. Regardless if some of the coins are considered circulation strikes or patterns, the coins still offer a gratifying pleasure when being discussed or reviewed, to say nothing of being able to own one.

Consequently, I like to refer to the 1856 Flying Eagle Cent as Numismatic Bait, since they attracted many of America's first major coin collectors. And because of this popular coin, we still have the small copper cent being produced by the United States Mint today. It is not known exactly how many 1856 cents were produced, but estimates range anywhere from 1,500 to about 2,150 examples. Today there are not enough coins in existence to meet the high demand. One of the clearest indications of their popularity is the prices they realize when they do become available. As of this writing, even an example in one of the lowest grades of Good-4 will bring over $6,000 and much more in higher condition.

Finally, owning an example of an 1856 Flying Eagle cent in any condition is a great honor for any collector since this coin is really the coin which triggered coin collecting in such a large magnitude. Just about everyone who knew about it at the time just had to have one. Today, since many individuals are familiar with the unique history of this coin and because of its beautiful nostalgic design, it commands a high premium. As a result, only a few fortunate collectors have the opportunity to own one of America's most alluring coins.