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Sale 36
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Lot 1516
1856 Flying Eagle Cent. NGC graded Proof 64. Lovely toning on both sides. Popular key date. Approximately 2,000 coins struck. Pop 119; 30 finer. Sparkling golden brown iridescence permeates this satiny beauty of this key date Flying Eagle cent with a life of its own. Add a sky-scraping level of mint originality, plus some absolutely gorgeous rose and pale blue iridescence on the eagle, and the appeal is very tempting. If you were expecting the design left by the dies to be deficient in robustness on this 1856 Proof (and it sometimes is, but on lesser coins), take heart, since this is an exceptional specimen, a mighty bold impression on Peter the flying eagle, and not the usual run-of-the-mill strike. It is, indeed, heart-stopping. Peter would fluff out his feathers with justifiable pride.
Okay, hopefully we've whet your appetite to learn further after that last remark. This is the story of "Peter," drawn from an article in the American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 27, 1893, p. 85: "On the dollars of 1836, 1838 and 1839, and the nickel cent coins in 1856 is the portrait of an American eagle which was for many years a familiar sight in the streets of Philadelphia. "Peter," one of the finest eagles ever captured alive, was the pet of the Philadelphia Mint, and was generally known as the "Mint bird." Not only did he have free access to every part of the Mint, going without hindrance into the treasure vaults where even the treasurer of the United States would not go alone, but he used his own pleasure in going about the city, flying over the houses, sometimes perching upon lamp posts in the streets. Everybody knew him, and even the street boys treated him with respect.
"The government provided his daily fare, and he was as much a part of the Mint establishment as the superintendent or the chief coiner. He was kindly treated and had no fear of anybody or anything, and he might be in the Mint yet if he had not sat down to rest upon one of the great flywheels. The wheel started without warning, and Peter was caught in the machinery. One of his wings was broken, and he died a few days later. The superintendent had his body beautifully mounted, with his wings spread to their fullest extent; and to this day Peter stands in a glass case in the Mint cabinet. A portrait of him as he stands in the case was put upon the coins named.
"In stuffed form Peter was exhibited widely including at the Treasury exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Today the bird is on view in the lobby of the Philadelphia Mint on Independence Square." (Enter this web link in your browser to see Peter as he looks today: http://www.ushistory.org/oddities/peter.htm).
Estimated Value $17,000 - 19,000.
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| Realized $21,850 |
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