1881 Indian Head Cent

This issue is quite common in worn condition and seemingly available in most Mint State grades, as well. As with any old copper coins, however, fully red survivors are rare.

There are no popular varieties for this date, yet the date impression is itself a variety of sort. The engraver attempted to simulate a curving date by punching numerals 81 at a slight tilt to the first 18. The resulting coins are thus transitional between the straight date of previous years and the curving dates of subsequent years.