Here’s a 1788 Massachusetts Cent that really worked for a living. There is some pitting which is unfortunate. It’s still an AG-3 coin. I purchased this early last year.
I bought this one for the type about 20 years ago. These coins were very well made. They were the best of the colonial issues. The trouble it cost more to mint them than they were worth. This piece is graded AU-58.
Here's my Mass half cent and cent. Seconding @johnmilton's comments on quality of dies and striking. Also, these were the only Confederation state coppers with the actual denomination shown. Craig Sholley has written that while the others (NJ, NY, Conn, et.al.) were authorized, minted and traded as half cents they were all colloquially known as "coppers". Only later, around the 1830s did they start trading as cents.
Those are some beauties! Like CNs mine has seen a good amount of traffic/use but even after 250yrs and lots of abuse you can still tell they were very well struck coins
Half pence not half cents, half cents didn't exist yet. The British halfpence was roughly the equivalent to what would become the US cent. And one of the reason the Massachusetts coinage was struck so much better was probably because they were, if I remember correctly, the product of a government mint rather than just a contract coinage. The state of Massachusetts owned the mint.
