1856 1C Flying Eagle Cent PCGS PR64 (CAC)

The Flying Eagle cent was among the shortest-lived coin series in American numismatics (1856-1858). This piece would make a great centerpiece of a proud numismatist's collection. This rarity has a mintage of just 1,500 in proof. Of that small mintage,  there are 228 in PR64 with 72 finer.

Peter Jefferson the U.S. Mint eagle. He is possibly the model for the Flying Eagle designs of both Gobrecht and Longacre.

The obverse was designed by chief engraver James B. Longacre, and was based upon the design found on the Gobrecht dollar, which was minted in small quantities from 1836 to 1839. We do not know for sure what Longacre's model was, however some sources tell us that the bird in flight was inspired by Peter Jefferson the eagle, a tame bird that lived in the Mint building. He was fed by laborers at the Mint in the 1830s until he flew into equipment and was killed. Peter was stuffed and can still be seen at the Philadelphia mint today. Longacre's eagle has its admirers. Art historian Cornelius Vermeule writes that the flying eagle motif, when first employed in the 1830s, was "the first numismatic bird that could be said to derive from nature rather than colonial carving or heraldry."