​The Two Cent Piece

Posted by Tom Deaux on Mar 29th 2020

Background 

The US Mint began producing the Silver Three Cent piece in 1851. It’s a very small coin, smaller than a modern dime and quite thin. Here’s a well-worn example with a proportionally sized dime.

In 1856, the US Mint began producing the Copper/Nickel Flying Eagle Cent. They produced this coin for three years, ending production after 1858. This is the first US Small Cent. It has the same diameter as the modern Lincoln cent but is about twice as thick.

The Flying Eagle was replaced in 1859 by a new Indian Head Cent. The 1859 Indian Head cent has the same composition of Copper/Nickel as the Flying Eagles, and it’s the same size as the Flying Eagle, still twice as thick as modern cents.

The Two Cent Piece

In 1864 the mint changed the Indian Head Cent to a mostly copper alloy, and changed the thickness to be the same as modern cents

In the same year, the Two Cent piece debuted with the same new Copper alloy as the Indian Head Cent.

More New Coins

Two more new coins were issued in 1855 and 1856

The copper/nickel version of the Three Cent piece was introduced in 1865, and the first US Five Cent coin, the Copper/Nickel Shield Cent started production in 1866.

These new coins gained in popularity with the US public while the Two Cent piece became less popular.

The Two Cent Piece is Discontinued

The Two Cent Piece was made through 1872, and a proof only version was made in 1873. The two cent piece drifted into the annals of history after 10 years of production

The demise of this issue could have been predicted by examining the steady decline of the number minted each year.

Conclusion 

The Two Cent piece was only manufactured for 10 years, and the mintages were low in the later years.

This is not a particularly popular coin among collectors, so the prices are low relative to other coins with lower mintage numbers.

It is an attractive coin, and is found in many type sets

In my opinion the Two Cent piece would be a good coin to invest in for price appreciation.