1869 Indian Head Penny Value

1869 Indian Head Cent

Semi-key

One of the scarcer Indian cents of the late 1860s.

1869 Indian Head Penny: front (type example, 1860 Indian Head cent) — Type example: 1860 Indian Head cent and 1860 wreath and shield reverse. Your coin's date and mint mark may differ. This example is copper-nickel (pale); bronze Indian Head pennies, made from 1864, look coppery.
Photo credits
National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History (photo: Jaclyn Nash) (PD; front, back)

1869 Indian Head Penny: back (type example, 1860 wreath and shield reverse) — Type example: 1860 Indian Head cent and 1860 wreath and shield reverse. Your coin's date and mint mark may differ. This example is copper-nickel (pale); bronze Indian Head pennies, made from 1864, look coppery.
Photo credits
National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History (photo: Jaclyn Nash) (PD; front, back)

Value by condition

Penny Value estimate · values as of Q4 2026

Worn (Good to Very Fine)

$55.00 – $240

G-4 – VF-20

Uncirculated (MS-60)

$780

Brown

By grade

Typical value at each grade and colour. Penny Value estimate.
Grade	Brown	Red-Brown	Red
G-4Good	$55.00	—	—
VG-8Very Good	$83.00	—	—
F-12Fine	$150	—	—
VF-20Very Fine	$240	—	—
XF-40Extremely Fine	$430	—	—
AU-50About Uncirculated	$600	—	—
MS-60Mint State (Uncirculated)	$780	$830	—
MS-63Mint State (Uncirculated)	$780	$830	$1,600
MS-65Mint State (Uncirculated)	$2,200	$2,300	$5,100

Values as of Q4 2026 · Penny Value estimate · based on 3 recorded sales

Penny Value estimate, 2026-Q4, from public sale records, mintage and survival data. It isn't a price guide or an offer.

How Penny Value estimates values

Check your own penny

Take a photo of each side. Penny Value reads the date and the mint mark, tells you if it could be a 1869 and what to check.

Check your own penny

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How to identify it

Date 1869; a low-mintage year of the 1860s
Also check the date for a repunched 1869/69 variety

What to check

What a genuine 1869 shows:

Repunched date (1869/69): NoAre the digits of the date, especially the 1 and 8, visibly doubled from a repunched date?

To check yours, photograph

Date close-up

Fakes and look-alikes

Altered dates from common years are known.

Specs

Series: Indian Head Cent (bronze)
Year: 1869
Mint: Philadelphia (no mint mark)
Mint mark: On the back, below the wreath
Metal: Bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc)
Weight: 3.11 g
Mintage: Included in the 6,420,000 1869 total; not counted separately.
Source: Wikipedia
Designer: James B. Longacre

Other varieties of this date

1869/69 (repunched date)
Philadelphia · Included in the 6,420,000 1869 total; not counted separately.
Variety
$260worn
$1,100MS-60

Other 1869 pennies

1869 Proof
Philadelphia · Proof · 600 made
Proof
$200proof

1869 penny values · Every Indian Head Cent (bronze) · Penny value chart