1785 VT 1/2P Vermontis Half Penny

Coin Details

Description

Cataloged as RR-1 and Whitman 2170, this 1785 Vermont copper halfpenny bearing the Latin legend VERMONTIS ("of Vermont") on the obverse is one of the earliest types in the Vermont copper series — the very first die variety in the Ryder-Rupert (RR) catalog sequence. The obverse depicts a sun rising over the Green Mountains with a plow in the foreground, pastoral imagery celebrating Vermont's agrarian character and its dramatic mountain landscape, accompanied by the VERMONTIS inscription that serves as a Latinized possessive form of the state's name. The reverse features an all-seeing eye of providence surrounded by a glory of rays, with the legend QUARTA DECIMA STELLA ("The Fourteenth Star"), expressing Vermont's political aspiration to join the original thirteen states as the fourteenth member of the union — a goal achieved when Vermont was formally admitted on March 4, 1791. Vermont authorized copper coinage in 1785 under a franchise granted to Reuben Harmon Jr. of Rupert, who established a minting operation to produce halfpenny-denomination coppers for local commerce. The VERMONTIS spelling represents the earliest phase of Vermont copper production before the legend was modified to other Latin forms in subsequent years. Scarce as one of the earliest Vermont copper types, this piece is particularly valued by collectors for its first-in-series status within the RR catalog system and its direct expression of Vermont's pre-statehood political identity as an independent republic seeking admission to the federal union.

Rarity Notes

Scarce. One of the earliest Vermont copper types.

Cross References

RR-1; Whitman 2170