Vermont Copper Coins

About This Coin

Vermont authorized copper coinage on June 15, 1785, granting Reuben Harmon Jr. of Rupert, Vermont the exclusive right to mint copper coins for two years, later extended to 1788. The earliest 1785 issues feature a distinctive landscape obverse showing the Green Mountains with a rising sun and plow, with the reverse legend QUARTA DECIMA STELLA ("The Fourteenth Star") reflecting Vermont's aspiration to become the 14th state. In 1786, the design shifted to a bust-style obverse similar to Connecticut coppers with AUCTORITATE VERMONTENSIUM ("By Authority of the People of Vermont"). Notable varieties include the rare "Baby Head," Immune Columbia and Britannia mulings, and Georgivs III Rex mulings that prove the same facility produced both authorized state coppers and counterfeit British halfpennies. Vermont was admitted to the Union as the 14th state in 1791.