"Blue Gill", hand carved fish decoy with Indian Head penny by David Perkins

You've probably heard that Indian Head pennies are great collectibles and worth some good money. And that's true...to a degree.

The Indian Head is popular because of its "good looks," not because of its rarity.   The obverse of the pretty little copper coin has a lovely Indian princess in a feathered headdress. The word "LIBERTY" is on her headband.

Many citizens believed that the portrait on the front of the coin represented Liberty wearing an Indian headdress, rather than an actual Indian. Legend has it that the model for the Indian Head cent was the designer's daughter Sarah.

The story said that Sarah was present when an Indian delegation was visiting her father's office. One of the chiefs placed a war bonnet on her girl's head and that became the inspiration for her father's design of the coin.

Now, Indian Head pennies are as common as clover. They were minted for half-a-century starting in 1859...and over 1.8 billion Indian Head cents were produced in all before they were replaced by the Lincoln cent in 1909. That's a lot of copper!

Each year they were in production, the U.S. mint turned out between 8 million and 49 million coins! But in 1877...

Well, let's just say it was a bad year for pennies and a good year for collectors.

Less than one million Indian Head pennies were minted in 1877. That makes 'em rare...and valuable.    

An 1877 coin with a good "head" on its shoulders can sell for close to $1,000!

This story is an excerpt from: "Betcha Didn't Know That!" by Leon Castner & Brian Kathenes. Learn more at:

www.BetchaBook.com.

David Perkins uses old coins to give "flash" to his fish decoys. This helps to attract other fish. Click decoy for more information.