AGCoinHunter said:Wow, awsome score there timbobwey. Were these in CWR's? (customer wrapped rolls) Take some pics and post them. Would love to see an indian tribe.
Immy said:Nice pick-up! Go back and buy nickels, dimes, etc. Who knows how much of a collection was turned in.
BTW, how long before we're told to call it a "Native American" cent?
Immy said:Very interesting find thrill!
The change came into effect with the 1997 edition of the Red Book. Decided to do some digging and it looks like some new info surfaced around that time. From Alan Herbert's 1995 book Coin Clinic:
Q: Was James B. Longacre's daughter Sara used as the model for the Indian cent?
There is some new and convincing evidence that she was the model. However, this is a reversal of generally accepted information, including Longacre's statement that he used a Greco-Roman statue of Venus, as borne out by the mature features of the coin design. The information on the use of Sara as the model can be traced to William Brimelow, known as "Bill the Coin Man." In the 1930s he did a weekly radio program on coins, as well as writing articles for publication in the coin magazines of the day. One of the stories he wrote cited the "Indian chief and the headdress" story, indicating that the story stemmed from a direct descendant of the Longacre family who lived in the same city where Brimelow broadcast from. The discrediting of the story was based at least in part on an incorrect date for Sara's birth. She was much younger than the "30 years old" generally ascribed to the time period when the model was made.