1776 Copper New Hampshire

Coin Details

Description

One of the great rarities of American colonial numismatics, the 1776 New Hampshire copper is among the first state-authorized copper coins produced in America — struck in the year of independence itself. With only 3-5 specimens known, this coin ranks alongside the Brasher Doubloon and 1652 NE shilling as a foundation piece of American monetary history. Cataloged as Whitman 5390 and Breen 940, the obverse features a pine tree — the enduring symbol of New England that also appears on the earlier Massachusetts silver coinage — while the reverse displays a harp, an unusual design choice that may reference Irish connections in the region or draw from existing die stock available to the coiner. New Hampshire authorized the coinage of copper coins in 1776, making it one of the earliest states to exercise monetary sovereignty after declaring independence from Britain, though the extremely small number of surviving examples suggests that production was limited to a trial run or very brief production period. This extremely rare piece belongs to the Post-1776 Private and Regional Issues (1778-1820) series and represents the tangible expression of a newly sovereign state's assertion of its right to produce money — a right that individual states would surrender to the federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1788. The 1776 New Hampshire copper stands as a physical artifact of the revolutionary moment when American states first claimed the attributes of independent sovereignty.

Rarity Notes

Extremely rare. Only 3-5 specimens known. Major colonial rarity.

Cross References

Whitman 5390; Breen 940