Fugio New Haven Restrikes

I used the search function and wasn't able to dig up any old discussions on these.... I always had an interest in post colonial issues for a number of reasons. Currently I have a Fugio in my crosshairs. I am wondering why we call these copies minted in the 1850's restrikes? From what I have gleaned it appears the dies were created specifically to strike deceptive copies of Fugio's. And yet these "restrikes" command quite a premium in the market. I am wondering why they aren't regarded the same way we regard Chinese copies today. Is it just the numismatic history of the piece?

 

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Not my area but here is a coin world article that may help:
https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/popular-restrikes-in-heritages-january-auctions.html

 

Thank you for that.

 

You're welcome

 

I can only agree with you, Randy. Whatever the lore surrounding them, the fact remains they were minted by individuals outside of the mint and without official approval with the sole purpose of profiting from the popularity of these attractive and symbolic coins. I would never add one to my collection.

 

Because that is what they were called in the 1850's. The Coin World story doesn't go into a lot of depth but Rust claimed that he had heard that the Fugios were made in New Haven so he "went there to see if he could find the dies." (He never explained why he thought the dies would still be around almost 70 years later.) And sure enough he did "find" dies including one set he claimed were being used as paperweights. So when he made pieces from what he claims were the original dies, they were called restrikes. Of course knowledgeable collectors realized they were NOT form the original dies, but by them marketing was kicking in and they have been "restrikes" ever since.

 

This is the part of the story that I was missing.

 

The New Haven “restrike” Fugio Cents hold no allure for me. Since they are old, they are more desirable than the junk that comes from China. But since I view the stuff from China to be equal in value to a pack of sewer rats, you can see that my opinion of them is not very high.

 

What US mint existed in 1787? The history of the "official" Fugio isn't much less checkered.

See http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/fugio-cent-1st-u-s-money-made-slave-counterfeiter/

 

Looking forward to reading that this evening.

 

The coins were made at a private mint by the same folks who were making the Connecticut coppers. It's long and interesting story. I'll have to see if I have written an article about it.

For those who don't know the series, here is an example.

 

@johnmilton That's a very nice Fugio. Guessing MS-63?

 

Yes, MS-63. It's a Newman 8-X, which is one of the Bank of New York Hoard varieties.

Here is another one, a Club Rays variety piece. I bought this one raw in the late 1970s.

 

I would sure love to sit at your coin desk with you one day. I’ll buy the beer.... You certainly post some spectacular coins here. And I love every one of them.

 

It wasn't a US mint, the Fugios were struck under contract by James Jarvis. He had purchased the Company for Coin Coppers in New Haven CT. The Company had a contract for supplying coppers for the state of CT (and they produced pieces of other sates as well that they didn't have contracts for.) But Jarvis bought it with the intention of getting a government contract to make coins for the Federal government. Which he managed to secure through a $10K bribe. He got some 30 tons of copper from the government on credit and then left to Europe to try and acquire the other 270 tons he need to fullfill the contract. While he was gone his partners struck between 3 and 400,000 fugios (about 4 tons of copper) as the first payment, and then diverted the rest of the government copper to making Connecticut coppers. Due to their lighter weight they could make more coins from each ton making them more profitable. When Jarvis returned (unable to acquire any more copper, they wanted cash and were not willing to accept credit on the part of the United States) he found his partners gone, the copper and CT coppers gone, and the government saying "where are the rest of our coins?". Jarvis fled the country.

 

I've always been intrigued by the club ray varieties. There was speculation that they were made by one of the clandestine mints that also made counterfeit British coppers.

 

That theory has been debunked. Machin’s Mills did not make those coins. They were made from re-furnished dies.

 

+1

 

You are of course correct. I meant to emphasise that, as opposed to the restrikes, the original coinage was officially approved by the American Congress and are the first widely circulated coin of the federal government.

 

I have a hard time calling anything pre-1792 "federal coinage."