sometimes i wonder; What if we still had large cents? Well, the answer is that without the change, things could have gone for a bad turn. In 1857, copper prices were rising, and quick. That meant, america had to remint the penny. So they got the chief engraver, James B. Longacre, and told him to make a new penny. Soon, he came up with the Flying Eagle Cent. This coin was biased off the  work of Longacre's predecessor, Christian Gobrecht. Today, Flying Eagle Cents are one of the most sought out coins for a collection.