Any affordable U.S. Coinage from 1700s?

you could get lucky like me

I happened to stumble across my "nova constellatio" from 1785 in my dad's collection of coins, which was basically a bunch of old coins in a sock. That coin is certainly the coolest coin I've seen in a long time.

 

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If you would consider tokens in addition to regular coinage, your quest may become easier. Many tokens of that time period circulated just like regular coinage, a few series even more than regular coinage of the day. Not sure of prices of any 1700's pieces off the top of my head, but for $200, I know there are some uncirculated 1830's tokens available. Some have designs with strong resemblances to regular coinage, while others do not. Ones in F or VF (again from 1830's) can be purchased for under $10. IMO these tokens have more history behind them than regular coins, but that may be a biased opinion.

 

colonial coinage wouldstill be great!
it'd be nice to own a coin from before the U.S. Decl. of Indep. was signed

heck, id like to have any colonial coin

 

I would say affordable is under fifty bucks. There's a 1773 Virginia ha'penny that's allegedly that price in decent condition.

The problem is that during the period of the Confederation (1776-89) the US government didn't issue any coins and most of the States didn't either, so the difference between a "coin" and a "token" is nil. During Washington's first term, no coins were issued by the US government either [the 1792 coins being patterns and all]. So there are some strange issues that are relatively cheap.

 

Ok JBK, your 1794 cent, is worth aprox $250 but your 1798 one is worth 130. Whent up in price a good 122$ lol!

 

Your $200 budget might be a bit low. I had the same budget for a VF Draped Budget Large Cent and overspent it by $300. I paid $500 for an 1802 cent. The reason for this is because too many of these early cents were struck on poor planchets. Either the planchets are too porous and/or corroded easily. Stay away from any coin with verdigris or corrosion on it. You might not think anything of it but the resell on it will suck! I know, I found that out the hard way with my 1803 Large Cent I traded in at a loss (from what I bought it at over 13 years ago!) to get this 1802 coin. It can be very to exceedingly difficult finding early copper on nice planchets.

I asked the dealer, Butternut, if I could find a coin for under $300 in the 1790's in VF condition. The answer was essentially "No". You might want to go for a nice Fine to reduce the cost, but I would probably avoid a G/VG simply for the reason that the detail won't be all there. You might be fine with that, but I'm a stickler for seeing the detail on coins and not have rims completely worn away or having a poor strike, etc.

Good luck on your search. Let us know what you find.