Identifying Counterfeit Vs. Genuine 1856 Flying Eagle Cents.

Welcome to the "Identifying" Threads!

Okee dokee! Before I begin, the purpose of this thread is to educate the collector with certain die markers to tell if an 1856 Flying Eagle cent is real or not.

I bet we can all agree that the 1856 Flying Eagle cent is a highly counterfeited coin. Right? Right!

So, here is the information I have collected from all over the net...Thank you whoever has helped me (some of it will be from here) and thank you to Coinfrog and indian_hoarder for telling me about the date:

First off, the 1856 is always large letters




Note differences in lettering, especially how the O in of is rectangular on an 1856.


Note the difference in the E in "STATES"


On a counterfeit example, there may be a small split in the 5


This is a well known Counterfeit die marker.


Another way of telling is to look at the 5s in each date, the straight part of the five (note picture directly below) is pointed perfectly in the middle of the ball only on 1856s.


Here is the date on the 1856:


Here is the date on the 1857 (the straight part is a pointed a little to the left of the ball):

And here is the date on the 1858 (notice how the ball looks swallowed):


Also note the chip in the ball of the 5 on 1856s.


If anyone has any suggestions, better photos, more die markers, or wants me to do one of these on a certain coin, just let me know.

Thank you for looking!