Nova Constellatio Patterns

About This Coin

Silver pattern coins struck in 1783, representing one of the earliest attempts to create a decimal coinage system for the newly independent United States. Designed by Benjamin Dudley and proposed by Gouverneur Morris (the Assistant Superintendent of Finance), these patterns introduced denominations based on a "unit" of approximately 1/1440 of a dollar: the 5-unit quint, the 100-unit bit, the 500-unit mark, and the 1000-unit mark. Though the system was never adopted — Congress ultimately chose the simpler dollar/cent framework — these patterns represent a fascinating "what might have been" in American monetary history. All are extreme rarities, with only a handful of specimens known for each denomination.