1858 Flying Eagle Cent. Small Letters, Low Leaves (Style of 1858), Type II. MS-65 (PCGS).Pretty golden-tan surfaces display wisps of light rose-apricot iridescence. Satiny with a sharp to full strike, there is much to recommend this coin to the quality conscious collector. Although the two obverse hub varieties of the 1858 Flying Eagle cent are most easily distinguished by the size of the letters in the legend, in reality the design of the Small Letters has been reworked in its entirety. In addition to spacing between the letters AM in AMERICA, this variety is distinguished from its Large Letters predecessor by shallower relief to the eagle with flatter feathers and the tail raised only minimally above the surrounding field area. Most circulation strikes of this variety are paired with the Type II Low Leaves Reverse hub, as here, which is identifiable by bold relief to the denomination ONE CENT and a nearly closed letter E in ONE. Of course, all hub varieties and combinations of the 1858 Flying Eagle cent are scarce to rare in the finest Mint State grades, confirming the significance of this attractive PCGS MS-65.PCGS# 2020. NGC ID: 2279.From the Bimyway Collection.
