United States (British Colonial): 1760 copper Voce Populi halfpenny, "VOOE" variety

United States (British Colonial): 1760 copper Voce Populi halfpenny, "VOOE" variety

PCGS AU50. Cert. #49471240.

Numista-80846, Krause-Mishler-TTN1.

Ex-David Lawrence Rare Coins, Inventory #784638, 20 October 2024. Purchased in the slab.

Though struck for use in Ireland, this issue circulated in the American colonies, and as such is listed in the Colonial section of the "Red Book" of United States coins. "Voce Populi" is Latin for "Voice of the People".

Per the Numista listing (edited for punctuation):

"This coin also circulated in the American Colonies, therefore US collectors also consider it an Early Colonial coin.

Very little is known about the origins of these coins, all of which carry the date 1760. Traditionally they have been attributed to a button maker named Roche, on South King Street, Dublin. Roche was, at that time, engaged in the manufacture of buttons for the army. He would have had the die-making skills [and] the raw materials to produce tokens like these. It is thought these coppers may have continued to be produced through 1761 using the 1760 dated dies."

This particular variety, the "VOOE" subtype, happened when the die engraver accidentally punched a second "O" where the "C" in "VOCE" should be, and then corrected it by repunching the "C" over the erroneous second "O".

The PCGS "TrueView" images here are inaccurate in regards to the coin's color. The David Lawrence images are more accurate. The coin is a chocolate brown color with nice surfaces, not the orangish color seen in the PCGS images.



077500

 

Since this is not one of my giveaways, I'll let you slide on the "not reading" thing this time.