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The Flying Eagle cent had barely begun to circulate when Mint Director James Ross
Snowden instructed Chief Engraver James B. Longacre to start preparing new designs,
one of which would be chosen to replace it. This was because of deficiencies in the
design of the Flying Eagle cent (it often emerged weakly struck, especially at the
eagle's tail and wingtip).
Director Snowden suggested that Longacre fashion a head of Christopher Columbus for
the cent. Even though he had created the flying eagle cent, Longacre threw himself
into the task and created more than a dozen pattern cents. Eventually, Longacre came
up with an alternative that Snowden liked even better than Columbus. It was a portrait
of an Indian girl- or more likely a Caucasian-wearing a feathered headdress.
Like its Flying Eagle predecessor, the Indian Head cent started out as a copper-nickel coin,
made from an alloy whose light color led to its being called a "white" cent. Most experts
agree that his idea was indeed inspired, for the Indian Head cent won immediate and enduring
acclaim from the American public.
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