Copper and Nickel Coins

Buying Recommendations

Colonial and Early American Coins

The field of colonial and early American coins comprises issues produced in America by various individuals, states, and others prior to the adoption of federal coinage in 1792, coins struck in foreign countries and imported for use in America, and tokens and medals honoring President George Washington. Most of these were struck in copper, but some were produced in silver, pewter, brass, and other metals.

Among pieces struck in the United States, no series is more famous than that of Massachusetts silver, which commenced with the NE (for New England) coinage of 1652 and continued through the Willow Tree, Oak Tree and Pine Tree types made as late as 1682 (but nearly all were dated 1652, for the British crown did not want the colonists to produce coins, thus the fiction was maintained that no pieces were coined after 1652). Struck from hand-engraved dies and using crude equipment, Massachusetts pieces are fascinating to collect.

Higley threepence copper coins were produced by Dr. Samuel Higley and his brother John circa 1737-1739 using native ore taken from a mine near Granby, Connecticut. All Higley pieces are rarities today.

During the period 1785-1788 various states produced copper coins, usually by private contract with various individuals, although Massachusetts operated its own mint (and discontinued it when an audit revealed it cost two cents to produce each one-cent piece!). Issues of Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York are eagerly collected and exist in many die varieties.

Fugio copper cents, minted in 1787, were produced under a contract let by Congress and thus may be the first official United States coins made for general circulation, although the 1776 Continental Currency "dollar," usually seen in pewter but also known in brass and silver, may have been an official government issue, but no documentation has ever been located.