1787 VT 1/2P Britannia Half Penny

Coin Details

Auction Record

$19,975 • VF35 • 01-2014 • Heritage Auctions

Description

Cataloged as RR-14 and Whitman 2260, this fascinating 1787 Vermont copper is a muling — a coin struck from two dies not intended to be paired together. The obverse carries the standard Vermont bust with the Latin legend AUCTORITATE VERMONTENSIUM ("By the Authority of the People of Vermont"), while the reverse bears the seated Britannia figure from British halfpennies rather than the expected INDE ET LIB (Independence and Liberty) reverse used on authorized Vermont coppers. This hybrid die combination provides compelling physical evidence that the same minting facility produced both authorized Vermont state coppers and counterfeit British halfpennies, a dual operation that was not uncommon among the private minting contractors of the Confederation period. Reuben Harmon Jr.'s minting operation in Rupert, Vermont, and related facilities are known to have engaged in British halfpenny counterfeiting alongside their legitimate state coinage production, and mulings like this Britannia reverse piece represent the physical evidence of that overlap — a die intended for counterfeit British halfpence accidentally or deliberately paired with a Vermont obverse die. Rare and historically important, this muling documents the sometimes blurred line between authorized state coinage and counterfeiting in 1780s America, when the chronic shortage of circulating copper made both activities economically viable and the distinction between them was more fluid than modern numismatic categories suggest.

Rarity Notes

Rare. An important muling linking Vermont coinage to British halfpenny counterfeiting.

Cross References

RR-14; Whitman 2260