1787 1/2P Nova Eborac - Seated Right Half Penny

Coin Details

Description

Featuring a reverse figure seated facing right — the opposite orientation from the seated left variety (Breen 990) — this 1787 Nova Eborac copper half penny is cataloged as Whitman 5825 and Breen 991. The seated right figure, interpreted as Liberty or Justice, holds attributes of freedom while the surrounding legend reads VIRT ET LIB (Virtue and Liberty), connecting the monetary function of this privately produced copper to the political values of the post-Revolutionary period. The obverse carries the NOVA EBORAC legend with a laureate bust, using New York's Latin name derived from Eboracum, the Roman designation for York, England. Nova Eborac coppers were struck by private minters for circulation during the Confederation period when New York State had not established a formal copper coinage authorization. Struck in copper, the coin weighs approximately 7 grams with a 28 mm diameter and plain edge. Cataloged as PCGS #475. Classified as scarce, the seated right variety is one of four major types in the Nova Eborac series — small head, large head, seated left, and seated right — each differentiated by the portrait size or the reverse figure's orientation. Breen 991 represents the final entry in Walter Breen's Nova Eborac sequence, completing the set of cataloged types. For collectors organizing their colonial copper holdings by state, the Nova Eborac halfpennies represent New York's contribution to the diverse landscape of 1780s American copper coinage, produced privately where other states like Connecticut and New Jersey authorized coinage through legislative acts.

Rarity Notes

Scarce.

Cross References

Whitman 5825; Breen 991