Pictured is a 1788 Republic of Vermont copper that I obtained in the last week. I believe that this specimen is a Ryder-Richardson-16 / Bresset 15-S / W-2120 based on diagnostics: including no stops in the legend, raised dots on the mailed-bust breastplate, and that die-use of this variety is unique to all within the Vermont issues. Per Bowers, specimens of this type are always weak at their centers. I believe that this specimen grades somewhere around Fine+. Notwithstanding its wear, I believe that the planchet is solid with nice coloring; the rims and legends have remained strong. Any comments and thoughts about it are appreciated and welcomed! Thanks, kindly
yes, that coin has a nice smooth planchet. Very nice! Not being an expert on these, does anyone have an explanation for the very defined weakness in the center of the reverse? (NOT intended as a criticism of a lovely coin, I am really curious)
Hi ksparrow - thanks for the nice words Bowers surmises that "Nearly all [Vermont Coppers] have light striking at the centers, with few details. Likely, the dies were made this way, so that a freshly minted coin, if darkened, could be passed readily in circulation, giving the impression it had gone from hand to hand for a long time." Whitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins, Q. David Bowers, (c)2009, pg.84.
Richardson, in "The Copper Coins of Vermont", The Numismatist, (c) 1962, also alludes to this practice of defacing dies so that the struck coins appear well worn and circulated.
