1788 VT 1/2P Backward C Half Penny

Coin Details

Description

Distinguished by its reversed letter C in the obverse legend, this 1788 Vermont copper half penny documents the informal die-cutting practices that characterized Confederation-era state coinage. Vermont coppers were produced under contract, primarily attributed to the Machin's Mills facility near Newburgh, New York, and to Rupert Harmon's operations in Rupert, Vermont, where die sinkers working without standardized letter punches occasionally introduced engraving anomalies. The backward C — cut in mirror image into the die — transferred to struck coins as a reversed letter, creating a visible and immediately recognizable variety. Struck in copper at 6.5 grams with a 28 mm diameter and plain edge, the coin follows the standard Vermont copper design: a sun rising over forested mountains with VERMONTENSIUM on the obverse, and a seated Liberty holding an olive branch with INDE ET LIB on the reverse. Cataloged as RR-25 in the Roper-Ryder classification and Whitman 2310, with PCGS #566. Vermont coppers were authorized by the Republic of Vermont's legislature beginning in 1785, predating Vermont's admission to the Union as the fourteenth state in 1791. The backward C variety is considered scarce and is one of several blundered-legend varieties in the Vermont series that provide physical evidence of the die-cutting challenges faced by itinerant engravers working in rural New England workshops, far from the trained artisans available in larger cities like Philadelphia or New York.

Rarity Notes

Scarce variety with the distinctive reversed C.

Cross References

RR-25; Whitman 2310