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Indian Head Penny

The Indian Head penny was made in the United States between the years or 1859 and 1909. Originally, the Indian Head penny was produced using a copper nickel alloy, giving rise to the nickname, “white cents” for the newly designed pennies of America.

During the height of the American Civil War, however, the mints went back to making the Indian Head penny as they had made every penny up until 1857, out of just copper, creating a thinner, more practical penny as a result. The planchet design for the new Indian Head penny would carry over into the Lincoln cent series and last for over 120 years.

Although the Indian Head penny is admired for its beauty in design and attempt at capturing the spirit of the Native American culture permeating the continent at the time, the actual design is that of the common Liberty face, of American coinage past, simply wearing a Native American headdress. Most examples of the Indian Head penny series were produced at the Philadelphia mint. It wasn’t until the last two ears of the series that the Indian Head penny was also produced in San Francisco.

Following the short, three year run of the Flying Eagle pennies between 1856 and 1858, the Indian Head penny was minted for just over 50 years and stayed in common circulation for many decades after, until eventually coin collectors weeded out most specimens of the Indian Head penny to fit into their personal collections.

Nowadays, it’s very difficult to find the Indian Head penny in circulating change, even though the Indian Head penny still has its legal tender status. Most coins in the Indian Head penny series do not carry a hugely significant value.

There are very few key dates and only coins that are in a beautiful shape can be worth a large amount. Since the coins of the Indian Head penny series were well used, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find an example of the Indian Head penny that meets the criteria needed to classify the coins as having great value. Still, the Indian Head penny can commonly trade for no less than a few cents above its face value, leaving the percentage of value increase nothing to sneeze at. So if you have an Indian Head Penny, make sure not to spend it as just a penny. Instead, bring the Indian Head penny into any one of the Nevada Coin & Jewelry locations serving the Las Vegas valley and let one of our highly respected coin professionals examine it to determine its value on the collectible market.

You may be pleasantly surprised by discovering you have a Indian Head penny that started out as being just a penny over 100 years ago and which is now worth perhaps a couple dollars, or maybe even more.

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East Flamingo

Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Saturday 8:30 am – 2:30 pm
Sunday Closed

West Flamingo

Monday – Friday 9:30 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday Closed

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I brought them some gold pendants, rings and a few other pieces. I knew they weren’t worth that much but I needed the cash. The guys (and there are a lot of them) were really nice and not the least bit condescending. They know when you come in to sell there is a reason but they don’t make you feel bad or inadequate. The store is filled with interesting objects for sale and for show. A very nice and very fair place to buy and sell. I highly recommend them.

Linda P.

Always a good experience here! Definitely the place in town I enjoy buying coins from, and I’d recommend them to anybody. Helpful staff, reasonable prices, and wide selection.

Daniel B.

We were really pleased with the help that AJ gave us concering our gold coins and watches. I don’t think we could have received a better deal anywhere. All of the personnel at Nevada Coin & Jewelry were very professional. We will recommend them to our friends.

Dean & Judy

Outstanding experience! This is the best place to change your gold with a great attention. I’m completely impressive because they have a smooth and fast service, definitely nice people!

Pablo V.

Nevada Coin and Jewelry – has excellent customer service – providing las Vegas with top notch service and expertise – this is my primary coin dealers — others just can’t keep up – they are helpful and friendly – in my opinion they are the best in the south west area — so that’s my review a++++ rating – because I am a good customer – this is the best place to buy and sell gold and silver bullion.

Freddie I.

I recently got divorced so I wanted to get rid of some of the jewelry my ex-husband got me. I found Nevada Coin and jewelry searching the web. When I called the guy that answered the phone was friendly and willing to quote me a price per gram. I went to their store on Flamingo, Avery whom I spoke to on the phone tested my items using some kind of x-ray machine. I could see that some of my jewelry was not the karat I thought (some lower some higher). He paid what he quoted on the phone no bait and switch. It took less than 15 minutes got my cash and got rid of some bad memories. I would recommend this company if you are looking to sell jewelry.

Virginia F.

A.J. and Robert are so friendly and make it so you have the best deal with the items you bring them. They have so much knowledge about all the items they have in their shop and they like to teach others about what they know…

B.C.

Grateful for the Nevada Coin and Jewelry shop, I just adore it. I took some collectable figurines in and they bought them. I came out smelling like a rose. You should’ve been there to see the big smile on my face. I ran all the way home to look for some more. Can’t wait to get back! I can sure use the money!

Brenda

Professional, friendly staff. Knowledgeable and fair. An interesting experience and would definitely visit again.

Gail B.

My Aunt recently passed and she lived in the outskirts of Las Vegas. While my sister and I went through her estate we found a number of items that neither of us considered keeping, but our aunt was clear in her will that she wanted us to use her things to make a profit and in turn use that money to help our futures. We shopped around, especially not being from the area, and got a lot of negative experiences just on the phone. People were rude, uninformative, and really just gave us a feeling they wanted to rip us off. It made us think of those dirty pawn shops you “hear about”. Finally I called Nevada Coin and Jewelry and the whole day shifted! We described a few pieces of jewelry and they helped us figure out initially a general value based on the metal. Of course, they did explain the importance of actually coming in and examining the pieces individually. That level of service over the phone got us through the door. When we went to the spot we were greeted with the same level courtesy, but the professionalism when going over each item and it’s value was through the roof! They took the time to explain why each item was worth what amount and even gave us a little bit of history on the styles. At the end of the day, my sister and I walked away with a sizable amount of money to put towards my son’s college fund and my sister’s vet school. Thanks, Nevada Coin and Jewelry!

Ashleigh L.

A great selection of coins and other numismatic related material. Very professional.

This place is definitely recommended!!! A.J. and David are amazing…very helpful and nice people at that! I would totally consider going to this place.

Bree D.