Indian or Wheat

Not much is known of the frontier game of Indian or Wheat. It is thought that the first appearance of the game was in the 19th century by prospectors of California hoping to pass the time after a long day. The game slowly made its way westward through trade routes, though it never became popular in the bigger cities on the east coast. The game generally died out in the early 20th century, though there are still people that have the Indian or Wheat coin and play even today.

Indian or Wheat coin

Indian or Wheat uses a coin that has the head of an Indian on one side and a bunch of wheat on the other. These coins were modeled after the penny of the time, though they were much larger, about the size of the palm of a grown man. There are few Indian or Wheat coins in existence today, and only a few have shown up at auction as gamepieces

Playing the game

The game is very simple. The coin is flipped by one person while the other guesses if the Indian or Wheat side will end face up when the flipper catches the coin. The flipper has the option, after the catch, to either show the face up side or to turn the coin over and rest it on the back of his hand before revealing the face-up side.

Generally, it is thought to be good luck to bet on Indian.

See also

• Indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Wheat
• Heads or tails