1778 1778' 1/2P Machin's Mills Half Penny

Coin Details

Description

Dated 1778, this Machin's Mills copper halfpenny carries a date falling during the American Revolutionary War — a period when genuine British halfpennies were still entering the colonies through military and commercial channels, making a 1778-dated imitation plausible as a recent British import. Cataloged by Vlack and listed as Whitman 7730, the piece was actually struck circa 1787-1790 at Thomas Machin's private mint near Newburgh, New York. The 1778 date occupies an interesting position in the Machin's Mills chronology: it is recent enough to avoid the appearance of extreme age (unlike the 1740s-dated issues) while still predating the mint's operation by nearly a decade, maintaining the fiction that the coin originated from British sources. The obverse imitates the George III bust and the reverse copies the seated Britannia, following the standard British halfpenny template. Struck in copper, the coin weighs approximately 7.5 grams with a 28 mm diameter and plain edge. Cataloged as PCGS #466. Classified as scarce, this wartime-dated variety is sought by collectors interested in the intersection of Revolutionary War history and numismatics. Machin's Mills halfpennies collectively document a remarkable episode in early American monetary history, where a former Continental Army officer established a covert mint to produce imitation British coins that addressed a genuine economic need for small-denomination circulating copper during the cash-starved Confederation period.

Rarity Notes

Scarce.

Cross References

Vlack; Whitman 7730