1787 CT 1/2P Georgivs III Obverse Half Penny

Coin Details

Auction Record

$24,000 • VF35 • 01-2016 • Heritage Auctions

Description

Cataloged as Miller 1.1-L and Whitman 2800, this 1787 Connecticut copper muling combines a British George III halfpenny obverse die with a Connecticut copper reverse die — a hybrid that provides compelling physical evidence of the close, and sometimes illicit, connection between authorized state coinage production and counterfeit British copper manufacturing during the Confederation period. These mulings occurred at facilities operated by Abel Buell or associated contractors, where both Connecticut copper dies (authorized by the state legislature) and counterfeit British halfpenny dies (entirely illegal) were maintained in the same workshop inventory. The accidental or deliberate pairing of dies from these two parallel production lines created a numismatic artifact that documents the dual nature of late 18th-century American private minting operations, where the same equipment, workers, and facilities served both legitimate and illegitimate purposes. The Connecticut legislature authorized copper coinage in 1785, contracting with private operators who supplemented their income by producing counterfeit British halfpence on the side — a widespread practice throughout the states during the Confederation era. Very rare and historically significant, this muling is one of the most telling artifacts in all of Connecticut copper numismatics, physically proving what historical records have long suggested about the blurred boundaries between authorized coinage and counterfeiting in 1780s America.

Rarity Notes

Very rare. Mulings of British and Connecticut dies are rare and historically significant.

Cross References

Miller 1.1-L; Whitman 2800