1792 Washington Born Virginia - Copper Cent

Coin Details

Description

Cataloged as Baker 60, Musante GW-33, and Whitman 10760, this 1792 copper cent pattern bears the distinctive obverse legend WASHINGTON BORN VIRGINIA, emphasizing the first president's origins in the Old Dominion. The reverse features an eagle surrounded by stars, a proto-heraldic composition that anticipated the eagle-and-stars motifs that would eventually dominate American coinage design. This piece belongs to the broader group of proposed Washington coinage designs produced in 1792, when multiple engravers — both American and British — prepared pattern coins hoping to win the contract for the new United States Mint authorized by the Coinage Act of April 2, 1792. The "Born Virginia" legend is notable for its personal biographical emphasis, unusual among coinage inscriptions that typically focus on national mottoes and denominational information. The debate over whether to place Washington's portrait on American coins was itself a contentious political question, with opponents arguing that presidential portraiture echoed monarchical traditions the new republic sought to reject. Very rare as an important early American pattern coin, the Born Virginia cent documents the experimental period when the visual identity of American coinage was still open to competing visions, before the Mint Act established the Flowing Hair Liberty design as the standard for circulating denominations.

Rarity Notes

Very rare. An important early American pattern coin.

Cross References

Baker 60; Musante GW-33; Whitman 10760