1788 Massachusetts Cent - No Period

Coin Details

Description

Struck during the final year of Massachusetts state copper coinage production, the 1788 Massachusetts Cent No Period variety is identified by the absence of a period after the word MASSACHUSETTS in the obverse legend — a diagnostic that separates this die from the more common period-after-MASSACHUSETTS varieties documented for the same date. Massachusetts authorized its state copper coinage in 1787 under a legislative act that specified designs featuring a spread eagle on the obverse and an Indian with bow and arrow on the reverse, creating the most formally organized state coinage program of the Confederation era. The coins were produced at a mint in Boston operated under contract, with the copper planchets weighing approximately 10.2 grams and measuring 28 mm in diameter with plain edges. The Ryder catalog — the standard reference for Massachusetts colonial coppers — designates the No Period variety as Ryder 11-H, identifying the specific obverse and reverse die pairing that produces this combination of characteristics, while the Whitman catalog assigns number 6070 for collector reference. The absence of the period represents a die-cutting variation rather than an error, as different obverse dies were prepared with slightly varying inscription details that may reflect the work of different engravers or successive die preparations over the coinage program's two-year lifespan. The No Period variety is described as moderately scarce, placing it above common varieties in desirability but below the major rarities within the Massachusetts cent series. Collectors pursuing state coppers — one of the most intellectually demanding specialties in American numismatics — value the No Period diagnostic as a meaningful die variety that enriches the systematic study of Massachusetts mint operations during the brief Confederation period between the end of the Revolution and the ratification of the Constitution. Grading these hand-struck coins requires familiarity with the characteristically irregular planchets and uneven strike quality typical of late eighteenth-century American copper coinage.

Rarity Notes

Moderately scarce. No Period variety.

Cross References

Ryder 11-H; Whitman 6070