Where did all the Copper come from ??

We often talk about copper coins from the 17 and 1800's . My question is where did the majority of the copper come from ? The U.S, England or somewhere else ?
I only know of one such copper mine in Connecticut at an old mine in the Simsbury Mine . The prisoner's would mine the Copper ore from a site just adjacent to the Prison. Here are some Pics . Also I have linked some info. on the Mine. Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine | Visit CT (ctvisit.com)

 

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Copper was mined in Cornwall and Devon from the bronze age until the end of the 20th century. See link.

Cal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Cornwall_and_Devon

 

US copper mines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_mining_in_the_United_States#Connecticut

 

Houghton & Hancock Michigan, known as Copper Country!

 

Speaking of copper country, is anyone old enough and from the right area (the west for sure...not aware how far east) to remember the old "Copper Penny" restaurants...???

 

I know many copper planchets came from England well into the 1810's.
That is except when we were at war with them which is why there are no 1815 large cents.

 

I did alot of research on this when I was in C4 collecting U.S. Colonials. Based on my research I could not confirm even with the Higley's at Simsbury that finished copper mined in the U.S. Colonies was "DIRECTLY" used in ANY U.S. colonial copper. Not sure of the date but maybe the 1820's? do we see some evidence of mine to planchet in the U.S.. In Simsbury for example due to lack of refining equipment copper ore in a semi-finished state was exported and then refined and returned from England as finished copper ingots then turned into planchets. It was then that we debated about provenance and XRF analysis. XRF analysis or even trace constituents can SUGGEST origin but what also must be tied in is a lead & the metal element of concern (i.e., in this case Cu) isotopic analysis to a confirmed standard database along with historical tie-ins. IMO we are still 50 years from this answer. You question one day may be answered but unlikely in your lifetime. I also looked into this silver center cent Morris forgery - making a long story short it appears the U.S. Mint did not even keep any good records of say in 1792 on the pathways of copper used. John Lorenzo, NJ.

 

My backyard they make so much noise.

 

This is in your backyard?

 

@Colonialjohn . You might be correct . The Simsbury Mine is actually in East Granby . Old Newgate Prison is a former prison and mine site on Newgate Road in East Granby, Connecticut. It is now operated by the state of Connecticut as the Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine Archaeological Preserve. Previously closed for restoration since 2009, it was re-opened on July 14, 2018. The site includes a colonial-era copper mine, and the remains of the state's first official prison, which was used between 1776 and 1782 to house prisoners of war from the American Revolutionary War.

 

The richest hill on earth is a copper mine in Butte, Montana. It’s been operating for a long, long time. Look it up for the history. Still in operation today.

 

The mining in Copper Country kicked off U.S. copper mining. Additionally, copper mining in Michigan can be traced back thousands of years.

It is estimated that from 5000 BC to 1000 BC, well over 1 Billion pounds of copper was mined in Copper Country.

 

Yes, natives mined copper there long, long ago. Pretty amazing!

 

I might be old enough, but don't remember! Where about?

 

From a quick research, consensus seems to point to the early 1800's as the time frame for coins made from US copper planchets.

 

My Alma Mater:

https://mtulode.com/1902/pulse/a-brief-history-of-michigan-tech/?return

 

We used to roam through the old abandoned copper mines for fun on the weekends!

 

Is that PD at Morenci? Big hole!

 

Sweden has rich copper deposits.

Sweden maintained neutrality with Nazi Germany during WWII by supplying copper to the war machine.

I am pretty sure Sweden has since apologized for their actions/lack of actions.

I may be wrong.

 

Many countries did what they felt they had to do in WWII in order to survive and avoid being conquered. Appease the monster, OK, whatever works through "diplomacy". Politicians and lawyers think and operate on a different wavelength than do so called normal people. Here in Thailand, they made some agreement with the Japanese and were not technically invaded and dominated, however they let the Japanese do pretty much as they pleased. American and British air attacks did occur. Most other local countries were taken by the Japanese and some had resistance groups to some extent. There is a lot more to world history than what used to be taught in US schools. I fear that today, children are very ignorant of world history in the past 100 years, and also in all past centuries.

Meanwhile, I am hoping for a reply to my query about the big, open pit copper mine photo earlier. I did visit the Phelps-Dodge mine at Morenci, Arizona in 1977. It was an amazing sight. I am also curious about how ancient peoples smelted copper ore.