There were copper pennies and white cents? Yes, there were “white cents” that didn’t look at all like pennies. These were the Flying Eagle one cent coins of 1856–58 and the Indian Head one cent coins of 1859 –64. They were made from
metal that contained 88 parts copper to 12 parts nickel, which gave them a light or white color.

The first Mint had a lot of horse power. Horses, oxen, and men powered the Mint’s coin presses before 1816 The first steam operated coin press appeared in 1836.

This Native American had three different faces. According to artist James E. Fraser, the Native American on the Indian Head and Buffalo nickels was actually a combined image created from three people: a Cheyenne Named Chief Two Moons, an Iroquois named Chief John Big Tree, and a Sioux named Chief Iron Tail.