1760 1/2 P Voce Populi - No P Half Penny

Coin Details

Auction Record

$40,800 XF40BN 11-21-2023 Stack's Bowers

Description

This 1760 Voce Populi Halfpenny of the "No P" variety lacks the letter P that appears on other varieties as a mintmark or engraver's initial. The obverse features a laureate bust facing right without any letter in the field, while the reverse displays the seated figure of Hibernia with her harp, accompanied by the VOCE POPULI legend. The "No P" designation distinguishes this variety from the "P Below" and "P at Face" types where a small P appears near the bust on the obverse. Voce Populi coins are Irish-American coppers produced in 1760, in Dublin, that were exported to the American colonies for circulation. The VOCE POPULI legend ("Voice of the People") gave these coins a distinctly populist and proto-democratic flavor that appealed to colonial Americans in the years leading up to the Revolution. The seated Hibernia reverse design, depicting the female personification of Ireland with a harp, connects these coins to the Irish tradition of halfpenny production that also includes the earlier Wood's Hibernia coins of the 1720s. The No P variety, lacking the mysterious P letter, may represent the earliest or most standard die preparation in the series, with the P being added to subsequent dies as an identifier. At approximately 28mm in diameter, the coin is struck in copper and weighs roughly the same as a standard British halfpenny, which helped it circulate alongside official coinage in the colonies.

Rarity Notes

Scarce. The No P variety is one of the more available Voce Populi types but still genuinely scarce in absolute terms.

Cross References

PCGS #262; NGC #108877; Breen; Nelson; cf. PCGS #268 (P Below), PCGS #271 (P at Face), PCGS #265 (VOOE)