1778 So-Called Dollar HK-866c, Elder Confederation

Coin Details

Description

This Confederation Dollar (HK-866c) is a restrike reproducing designs from Continental Congress currency of the Articles of Confederation period (1778-1789). Struck in a remarkable range of materials including copper, brass, German-silver, white metal, silver, aluminum, lead, and fiber at a standard 39mm diameter, the Confederation Dollars represent the full spectrum of medallic metallurgy. The silver variants are the scarcest — HK-860a was limited to just 35 pieces — while copper and white metal examples are the most commonly encountered. The Perseverando varieties include date variants (May 10th, Nov. 29th, April 11th) corresponding to specific Continental Congress currency emissions, and only 50 copper HK-864 examples were struck. As later strikes produced from copy dies rather than original 18th-century implements, the Confederation Dollars made historically significant Revolutionary-era designs accessible to collectors. These pieces document the critical period between American independence and the ratification of the Constitution, when the young republic experimented with coinage designs, monetary systems, and the visual vocabulary of national identity that would eventually be codified in the Coinage Act of 1792. The so-called dollar collecting community has grown significantly since the Hibler-Kappen catalog's initial publication, with specialized dealers, dedicated reference works, and an active collector base supporting a market that values historical significance, artistic merit, rarity, and condition. Heritage Auctions, Stack's Bowers, and other major numismatic auction houses regularly feature so-called dollars in their sales.

Rarity Notes

Confederation Dollar variants in the HK-858 through HK-866 range survive in moderate numbers. Various compositions exist across the series. These pieces attract interest from collectors of both so-called dollars and early American coinage reproductions.

Cross References

HK-866c; PCGS #643648