1787 VT 1/2P Bust Left Half Penny

Coin Details

Description

As the most prolific year for Vermont copper production, 1787 generated the greatest number of die varieties in the series, and the Bust Left type — featuring a portrait facing left with the legend AUCTORITATE VERMONTENSIUM ("By the Authority of Vermont") — represents the standard and most readily available configuration. The reverse depicts a seated Liberty holding an olive branch with a shield beside her, bearing the legend INDE ET LIB (abbreviating "Independence and Liberty"). Multiple die marriages exist for this general type, cataloged across the Roper-Ryder system as RR-10 through RR-13 and related varieties, with Whitman numbers 2240 through 2255 spanning the range of die combinations. Vermont authorized its copper coinage in 1785 through an act of its legislature — at the time, Vermont was an independent republic, not yet a state of the Union. Production was contracted to Rupert Harmon and others, with minting operations attributed to facilities in Rupert, Vermont, and at Machin's Mills near Newburgh, New York. The common availability of the 1787 Bust Left type makes it the most accessible Vermont copper for new collectors entering the series, though advanced specialists can spend years pursuing individual Roper-Ryder die combinations within this single type designation. Vermont's sun-over-mountains design and Latin legends reflect the young republic's aspiration to present itself as a legitimate sovereign entity, capable of issuing its own coinage alongside the established states of the Confederation.

Rarity Notes

Common for the series. The most available Vermont copper type.

Cross References

RR-10 through RR-13 and related; Whitman 2240-2255