1787 NJ 1/2P PLURIRUS Half Penny

Coin Details

Description

Another remarkable legend error in the New Jersey copper series, this 1787 half penny renders PLURIRUS instead of the correct PLURIBUS on its reverse, substituting an R for the letter B — a blunder that, like the PLURIBS variety, documents the challenges die sinkers faced when engraving Latin inscriptions they may not have fully understood. Struck under private contract at New Jersey minting facilities in Rahway and Morristown, the coin is composed of copper weighing 6.7 grams with a 29 mm diameter and plain edge. The obverse follows the standard New Jersey design with a horse's head above a plow and NOVA CAESAREA legend, while the reverse shield bears the blundered E PLURIRUS UNUM motto. Cataloged as Maris 38-a and Whitman 4840, with PCGS #45426 identifying it within the grading service's colonial coinage population. The PLURIRUS error is classified as a scarce legend error variety, and its existence alongside the separate PLURIBS error (Maris 39-a) demonstrates that multiple die sinkers working on the New Jersey contract independently produced different misspellings of the same Latin word. This pattern of varied blunders provides evidence that different artisans cut different dies, each introducing their own errors — a detail that helps numismatic researchers reconstruct the organization of die production across the contract's multiple minting locations. Colonial specialists actively seek out blundered legend varieties as tangible artifacts of the informal minting infrastructure that characterized American coinage before the establishment of the federal mint.

Rarity Notes

Scarce legend error variety.

Cross References

Maris 38-a; Whitman 4840