When I was in high school, I dreamed of completing a set of Indian Cents. One of the key coins in that collection was the 1864-L bronze Indian Cent. Designer James Longacre created this variety when he decided to place his initial, “L”, discretely on a ribbon below the Indian’s headdress. The letter is so small that it takes a magnifying glass to see it, sometimes as high as 10X. It usually survives as the coin is worn down in circulation, although it is often hard or impossible to see on very worn examples. The Bronze 1864 Cent, without the “L”, was the first coin issued after the Philadelphia Mint switched from the copper-nickel cent in mid 1864. This coin is considered to be common, but it has been my experience that it is almost or perhaps as scarce as the piece with the initial. Here is a high grade example. Here is an example of the 1864-L cent and a close-up photo of the "L". Another indicator of the variety in question is the tip of the bust. The rounded bust appears on the 1864 Bronze coin, and the pointed bust is noted on the 1864-L piece. 1864 Bronze, rounded bust 1864-L, pointed bust
Great coins. I have a Whitman album going of junk bin Indians for a cheap side project... was pleased when I came across this one in the tin to fill the L slot.
Great coins. Here's my 1864-L cent. Bought this a few years ago, more interested in the rotated die than the with L part of it at the time...
I bought mine as part of a set I'm building of the major FE/IHC varieties... 6 FE - and does not include the 1856 because its a pattern... KM-85 Flying Eagle 1c 1857 KM-85 Flying Eagle 1c 1857/857 Type of 1856 FS-401a KM-85 Flying Eagle 1c 1857 Type of 1856 FS-401b KM-85 Flying Eagle 1c 1858 Small Letters KM-85 Flying Eagle 1c 1857/7 KM-85 Flying Eagle 1c 1858 Large Letters 12 IHC - no overdates to keep it manageable KM-87 Indian Head (type 1, CuNi, Laurel Wreath, without shield) 1c 1859 KM-90 Indian Head (type 2, CuNi, Oak Wreath, with shield) 1c 1860 Type 1 Pointed Bust KM-90 Indian Head (type 2, CuNi, Oak Wreath, with shield) 1c 1860 XF Type 2 Rounded Bust KM-90a Indian Head Cent (type 3, Bronze) 1c 1864 No L on Ribbon KM-90a Indian Head Cent (type 3, Bronze) 1c 1864 L on Ribbon KM-90a Indian Head Cent (type 3, Bronze) 1c 1865 Fancy 5 KM-90a Indian Head Cent (type 3, Bronze) 1c 1865 Plain 5 KM-90a Indian Head Cent (type 3, Bronze) 1c 1873 Open 3 KM-90a Indian Head Cent (type 3, Bronze) 1c 1873 Closed 3 KM-90a Indian Head Cent (type 3, Bronze) 1c 1886 KM-90a(2) Indian Head Cent (type 3, Bronze, Variety 2) 1c 1886 KM-90a(2) Indian Head Cent (type 3, Bronze, Variety 2) 1c S
Keep searching, I just checked, and I have cherry picked #14 pieces over the years as NO L and they were with L. Grades as low as AG, as high as VF.
I cherry picked three 1864 Small Motto Two Cent Pieces when I was dealer. It seems like cherrypicking the 1864-L cents would be even easier given the fact that the diagnostics are so small (the "L" and the pointed bust).
