From the University of Notre Dame - "Little is known about this unusual token that dates from 1787. The obverse is quite similar to a bust left Connecticut copper, especially the 1787 coppers minted by Jarvis and Co. in New Haven. It also appears the coin was intended for circulation in America as the legends: AUCTORI PLEBIS (By the authority of the people) and INDEP ET LIBER (Independence and Liberty) are anti-royalist. However, the figure of Liberty on the reverse is clearly based on the seated Britannia, resting one arm on an anchor behind her and the other on a globe in front of her, with the crowned English lion resting at her feet. Duncan suggests the coin may be of American origin, while Breen considers it to be from Birmingham. Mossman does not pass judgment on the origins of the coin but explains it was one of the coppers circulating during the Confederation period. Breen discussed the similarity of the reverse of the Auctori Plebis token to that found on some English halfpenny tokens, namely the 1793-1794 Emsworth and Norwich tokens (Dalton and Hamer, Hampshire, Emsworth, nos. 9-12 on p. 41 and Northfolk, Norwich, nos 20-21 on pp. 211-212). However, he stated the style of the British tokens was different and the punches did not match with the Auctori so he concluded there was no relationship between these coins and the Auctori Plebis. A 1794 Emsworth token, made for the grocer John Stride, is shown on the following page below the Auctori Plebis for comparison (R. Dalton and S.H. Hamer, The Provincial Token - Coinage of the 18th Century, Alan Davisson: Cold Springs, MN, (originally published 1910-1918), reprinted 1990, Hampshire, Emsworth, no. 10 and Batty's Catalogue of the Copper Coinage of Great Britain, Ireland, British Isles, and Colonies, London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., 1896, vol. 1, part 5, p. 99, Hampshire, item 299). In Prattent's 1796-97 book illustrating British token halfpence, the 1787 Auctori Plebis was listed in the index as "American." From this reference we can verify the coin was known in England but the debate continues if "American" means made in America or made in Britain for use in America." I eagerly picked up a VG Cleaned example in a PCGS slab on eBay yesterday ($261). I love Colonial Copper and this is an unusual and scarce example. I was shopping for a low grade 1794 Large Cent and lost an auction for a VG / F raw example with the usual last second frenzy of bidding but won this one! Sellers pics / PCGS -
Interesting to see another "copper piece" that circulated in America. I didn't see the quotation marks so I cannot tell the extent of the Notre Dame description for their peice. Have you seen their specimen?
Yes, their specimen has a really nice reverse (see below) from their comments on same, "The obverse bust was cut shallow in the die and so was weakly struck. Note that in AUCTORIS, the letters TOR are smaller than the other letters. Also, in this example there is a larger planchet void and several small voids in the top portion of the bust area. The reverse die appears to have been larger than the planchet, for most examples appear incomplete (note the planchet size is 26.6 mm while the Emsworth token, listed next, is 29.4 mm). The present example has only a small portion of the date area and is struck right of center so that the upper portion of LIBER and part of the anchor are lost. On this example there are massive die cracks from the left tip of the anchor moving up behind Liberty's head; a second crack starts in the hair area then continues through her forehead and on to just before the globe. As these cracks do not appear on many plated examples I suspect they occurred in the final stages of the use of these dies."
