1 Cent '1869' Pattern

Judd-666 and Judd-667 are among the pattern issues produced during the period when the Mint was actively exploring alternatives to the copper-nickel Flying Eagle and Indian Head cents — experiments driven partly by metal supply concerns and partly by lobbying from nickel producers, most notably Joseph Wharton, who held near-monopoly control over domestic nickel mining and aggressively pushed Congress to expand its use in coinage throughout the late 1860s.