There was a question concerning a copy of the Continential Dollar in the "What's it worth?" forum. Since there was some confusion over the Continential Dollar and the Fugio Cent, which share design elements, I've decided to post this article here. In the late 1780s a glut of circulating, light weight copper coins was damaging the fragile United States economy. Some of these coppers were legitimate pieces that several states were issuing under the provisions of the Articles of Confederation. Under that form of government, which preceded the U.S. Constitution, each state was allowed to establish their own monetary system and issue money to support it. There were also foreign coins in circulation, which had been the standard practice since the colonial period. The worst problem was a growing number of underweight counterfeit copper coins which almost all bore a resemblance to the British half penny. Several nefarious minters were producing these coins, and one source, Machin’s Mills, which was located in Newburgh, New York, was producing both legitimate and counterfeit coins. In an effort to stabilize the situation, Congress authorized a national coinage which came to be known as the Fugio cent. A Machin's Mills counterfeit copper The new coin was to have been a “cent” with a value of 1/100 of a Spanish Milled Dollar. Since the Confederation Government did not have a national mint or the funds to establish one, a contract was offered to a private mint to make the coins. The winner of that contract was James Jarvis, who got a leg up on the competition by paying a bribe to the secretary of the treasury. Although Jarvis had produced the Connecticut cents and was experienced in coin making, he did not have enough capital to complete the contract. Jarvis borrowed copper from the government to get started and left for Europe to find additional financing. A Connecticut Copper During Jarvis’ fund raising efforts, his company produced about 400,000 cents. The design was similar to the Continental dollar, which had been issued during the Revolutionary War. The obverse featured a sundial, the date, the word “Fugio” and the phrase, “Mind your business.” These words, which have been attributed to Benjamin Franklin, met, “Times flies, work hard and make a success of your business.” The reverse of the coin had a continuous chain of 13 interlocked links and the motto “United States … We are one,” in the center. This design represented a call for unity among the 13 states that were then loosely held together under The Articles of Confederation. A Fugio Cent Ultimately Jarvis was unable to get European investors to fund his project, and he defaulted on his contract. Once his employees learned what was happening they fled the scene in order to avoid possible prosecutions. Most notable among them was die maker Abel Buell who had once been convicted of counterfeiting. Since his punishment had been the clipping of one of his ears, the branding a “C” on his forehead and incarceration, he wanted no further interactions with the 18th century justice system. Upon examining the Fugio cents that Buell and his co-workers had made, government officials discovered that the coins did not weigh enough to qualify as “cents” which were worth 1/100 of the dollar. Instead they would have to trade as “coppers,” which would be whatever the market would bear. In effort to recover its losses, government officials sold the coins to a speculator, Rufus King, who planned to circulate the coins at a profit. When King defaulted on his payment for the coins, he was sent to debtor’s prison. Ultimately a large number of the Fugio cents do go into circulation, and the coin is somewhat common in used condition. There are also a number of Mint State examples known, mostly from a hoard of the coins that were stored in the vaults of the Bank of New York in Manhattan. Over the years the bank gave some coins to favored customers. Finally in the late 1940s a group of numismatists were allowed to examine the remaining pieces. Today the Fugio cent is, in a way, a collector’s bargain. Compared to the more famous 1793 Chain cent, the prices are almost modest. The 2010 edition of the Red Book lists the most common variety from $300 in VG to $4,500 in MintState. A comparable Chain cent would sell from $13,000 in VG to several hundred thousand dollars in Mint State.
One thing to add. Jarvis was not really looking for funding for the contract in Europe, he was looking for more copper. His contract called for coining 300 tons of copper but he only had 37 tons on loan from the government. He was trying to find someone in Europe willing to supply him the needed copper on credit. But no one would extend him that much credit, nor would they extend the credit to the new and somewhat shaky US government. Then there was the matter of that 37 tons of copper borrowed from the Government. The deal was it was to be paid for in the form of Fugios turned over to the government. But while Jarvis was in Europe his firm only made the first installment payment of 400,000 coins, about 6.25 tons. When Jarvis got back all the rest of the copper was gone! Where did it go? Well the firm was able to make a loot more profit for themselves by coining it into the lighter weight Connecticut coppers. They got a lot more coins per ton of copper, and then more profit since they skipped out and didn't pay for the copper they used. Jarvis got back to find he had no mint, no coins, no copper, no way to make good on his contract, and a government that wanted to know where their coins were. So he did what to him was the only sensible thing......he fled the country. Oh and the reason King had to default on his dept to the government was because in 1790 there was the Great Copper Panic, and the value of all the copper coins in circulation plummeted. Coppers which had bee trading at 14 to 16 to the shilling dropped to around 40 to the shilling. That made the fugios worth much less than what King owed for them.
Nice short summary. Fugios are a fascinating series featuring lots of criminal fraud. It seems none of the coinages produced during the Confederation ever worked out. I would add that there is zero evidence that the "Continental dollar" was ever "issued" or that it was produced during the Revolutionary War. Many now believe that they were struck in Europe (though there's no real evidence for that, either). The earliest known report of their existence was in a German publication dated to late 1783, after the Revolutionary War was over.
Here is a Fugio I once owned for many years. Purchased at a reputable coin shop as a nice example of the Fugio type. It turned out to be a bit more than just a nice example. I wish I still owned it now:
I've heard from one source that after the Constitution was ratified and the Coinage Act of 1792 was passed, the Fugio Cents in circulation were not worth a cent, but simply the value of the copper they contained. A very interesting pre-Constitutional issue for sure.
Here is a Club Rays variety Fugio Cent, which is the second coin of this type in my collection. This piece was made from an enhanced or repaired die probably late in the production run for these coins.
I do consider them as such. But you do have to remember they were not issued by the same Federal Government that we are under today. The Fugio, like the large cents that came after them were not legal tender. They were also underweight compared to the legal standard. As such they changed hands at the same rate as the other underweight coppers in circulation. As I mentioned earlier in 1790 the number of counterfeit and underweight copper reached such a large anount that their market value fell by about 75%.
