...on the reverse of this 1862 Indian Head cent, struck when Lincoln was still a first-term president and the outcome of the Civil War was still very much in doubt.
The Shield had been added to the coin in 1860 when the country was at a boil and the southern states were on the verge of seceding, so this device of Union had special meaning. As did another addition of 1860—the arrows.
Arrows, common on U.S. coins and emblematic of a willingness to protect the country from enemies, but here, on this 1862 cent—tragically—aimed at fellow Americans.
v.