[Game] World Coins Time Machine… Counting Backward by Year! (Plus Prize Coin)

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Salzburg.
1788.

 

Temple of Music medal and Birmingham Workhouse halfcrown.

 

1788 Massachusetts cent, variety Ryder 12-M, R1 very common.

During the post-independence / pre-constitution period of the United States, the Articles of Confederation era, some states assumed responsibility for the minting of coinage.

The state of Massachusetts struck cents and half cents in 1787 and 1788. Massachusetts had the only state owned mint. Other states utilized private mints to strike their authorized coinage. Massachusetts expected the mint to be profitable, but it lost money. The mint was shut down in January 1789. Massachusetts was in negotiations with private mints to further manufacture the coinage, but this was abandoned in February 1789 because the newly adopted Constitution specified that the federal government would be responsible for the minting of coinage.

The seal of Massachusetts is on the obverse.

 

deleted

 

Thanks @lordmarcovan ... it's a keeper though.

 

I'm still at 1788. not everyone is on standard US time around here.

 

Yes, different time zone, here are some of my 1788s, beat up old Dutch coins

 

Poland.
1788.

 

City of Gorizia.
1788.

 

It's time for 1787.

Three coins from the post-colonial, pre-Constitution USA period that are attributed to the renowned American contemporary counterfeiter Machin’s Mills:

The following is from an important paper regarding what is commonly known as “Machin’s Mills” coinage.

From: James Atlee’s Imitation British Halfpence; Gary A. Trudgen, The Colonial Newsletter March 1987:

The British halfpence was the most heavily counterfeited coin in the eighteenth century. Most of the counterfeiting was done in England, however, a small amount was also done in America. The majority of the American-made halfpence, as attributed by Robert Vlack in 1974, have been routinely credited to Thomas Machin's "Manufactory of Hardware" {commonly Machin’s Mills}. This includes all the varieties that are dated 1747, 1771, 1772, 1774,1775, 1776, 1778, 1787 and 1788. In this article I intend to show that these imitation halfpence are indeed the product of James F. Atlee, Thomas Machin's partner and die engraver, however, all of the varieties were NOT struck at Machin's Mills. …


Trudgen indicates that Machin’s Mills minted British halfpence are limited to those dated 1778, 1787 and 1788. The 1778 halfpence were predated, and were likely struck in 1788. Halfpence dated 1776 and earlier and some coins dated 1787 were struck with Atlee dies produced prior to his work at Machin’s Mills.

Regarding the identification of Atlee’s imitation British halfpence (commonly Machin’s Mills’) coinage, folks talk about triangular dentils and pursed lips (neither of which is sufficient). I’ll add a third criteria, the coins must possess a marvelously ugly representation of George III (I'm not the first to suggest this).

1787 imitation British halfpenny, attributed to Machin’s Mills, type Vlack 21 II 87D II, R4 very scarce.


1778 Imitation British halfpence, attributed to Machin’s Mills, Vlack 11-78A, R3 scarce. The coin was likely struck in 1788, and was predated for some reason.

This is the only Vlack 11-78A that I have found (to date) with the cud at 2:00 on the obverse. I believe the porous streaking is due to planchet quality. The coin is bent which has spared it from a life confined to a slab (fortunate for me).

1788 Counterfeit Connecticut copper, attributed to Machine’s Mills, type Miller 7-E, R5 rare.

From The Coins of Colonial and Early America, Louis Jordan, University of Notre Dame, Department of Special Collections. https://coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/CT-Copper.intro.html

… it is now thought all 1788 dated Connecticut copper derive from Machin's Mills.


Liberty’s shield on the Connecticut Copper series’ reverse features the 3 grape vines of the Connecticut coat of arms rather than the British Union Jack.

 

It was the shield heraldry that attracted me to this coin. I was looking specifically for one with the shield detail. As you mentioned the majority do not show this detail, I suspect by lack of design detail or poor strike. This coin was auctioned on ebay without attribution. I determined it's attribution before I bid, and was most delighted that it wasn't the typical commons that I usually can afford.

 

1787 Fugio copper, Newman 9-P, R4 very scarce

The first coins authorized by the United States.

Struck at a private mint. The business deal did not go well. Possible motivation for the United States establishing its own mint 5 years later.

From The Coins of Colonial and Early America, Louis Jordan, University of Notre Dame, Department of Special Collections. https://coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Fugio.intro.html

Rival petitions to produce the coppers were received from Matthias Ogden of New Jersey and James Jarvis, who had purchased controlling interest in the Connecticut enterprise {franchise}, The Company for Coining Coppers. The contract was awarded to Jarvis … Jarvis was required to produce some three hundred tons of Fugio cents. He was able to obtain about thirty tons of copper from the government to begin coining with the proviso he would pay the government for the copper through his coining operation. Jarvis had Abel Buell make the Fugio dies. He then put his father-in-law, Samuel Broome, in charge of the minting operations and went to Europe in search of copper and assistance. Jarvis sought the assistance of Matthew Boulton, owner of the Soho Mint in Birmingham, and others, but without cash up front, Jarvis was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Broome used much of the federal copper to mint about three and a half million 1787 Connecticut coppers, which were lighter in weight and thus more profitable than the Fugio's. In the end Broome made only about 400,000 Fugio cents (about four tons out of the 300 tons of coppers they had been contracted to produce) which were sent to the U.S. Treasury on May 21, 1788. That so few coins had been minted and that those coins were slightly underweight concerned the Congress, but that no payment had been made on the thirty tons of copper the federal government had delivered to Jarvis led the Congress to void his contract on September 16, 1788. This was followed by a congressional report on September 30, 1788 stating Jarvis had received a large quantity of federal copper but had only paid for a small portion and that "the Board of Treasury will take effectual measures to recover [the remainder] as soon as possible."

Thomas Machin then bought Jarvis's equipment, and Broome joined Jarvis in Europe. The diemaker Abel Buell gave his equipment to his son Benjamin and also fled the country.

 

1787, Ceylon VOC Colombo 1 stuiver "dump", Gelderland duit and Holland 2 stuiver

 

More 1787, duits from Holland and Utrecht, and 1 keping from East India Company