Indian Head Small Cents, 1859-1909

After many patterns were made, the Indian Head was adopted as new motif for the cent. When it first issued in 1859 it represented Miss Liberty wearing an Indian headdress. The First year featured a laurel wreath, after one year it was replaced by an oak wreath with a small shield.
1859 Copper-Nickel, Laurel Wreath Reverse
1860-1864 Copper-Nickel, Oak Wreath with Shield
1864-1909 Bronze, during Civil War due to the shortage of metal, nearly all gold, silver and eventually copper-nickel cent disappeared from circulation in the Midwest and East. In large cities merchants produced thin copper, cents size tokens to fill the void by the missing cents. The Act of 1864, government stepped in issued the bronze cents and claimed the tokens usage was illegal.