The Flying Eagle cent is a US coin that was minted from 1856 to 1858. The coin was designed by James B. Longacre. The Flying Eagle was the first small sized cent coin minted in the US, which replaced the earlier large cent. The obverse of the coin depicts an eagle in flight, a unique subject for the obverse of American coins. The reverse of the coin has the words ONE CENT surrounded by a wreath, similar to the reverse on the later Indian Head cent and Wheat cent minted until 1958.

The design didn't last long due to the obverse design opposing the reverse design. The eagle's head and tail were opposite the wreath. The presses had to strike the coins harder to get the design up fully. This caused dies to fail more often. The design was replaced by the Indian Cent in 1859.