1785 VT 1/2P Vermontis, BN (Regular Strike)
Series: U.S. Colonial Issues
PCGS AU50BN
CLOSEUP OF VERMONTIS
PCGS XF45BN
- PCGS #:
- 542
- Designer:
- N/A
- Edge:
- N/A
- Diameter:
- N/A
- Weight:
- N/A
- Mintage:
- N/A
- Mint:
- Philadelphia
- Metal:
- Other
- Auction Record:
- $70,500 • VF30 • 01-07-2015 • Heritage Auctions
Major Varieties
- 1785 VT 1/2P Vermontis, BN
Condition Census What Is This?
|
#1 Est. MS63
The Bennington Museum. |
| #2 PCGS AU55 |
|
#3 PCGS AU50
"The E Pluribus Unum Collection," Stack's Bowers, November 18, 2020, Lot 4196 - $3,840. RR-4. 104.2 grains. Uniface reverse. |
#4 PCGS XF45
Stack's Bowers, June 23, 2020, Lot 201 - $12,000. RR-4. 101.2 grains. |
#4 PCGS XF45
Sylvester S. Crosby; Lorin G. Parmelee, 1882. As "Fine." "The Lorin G. Parmelee Collection," New York Coin and Stamp Company, June 27, 1890, Lot 487 - $5.25; unknown intermediaries. As "VF30 or better." "The Ezra Cole Collection," Bowers and Merena, January 25, 1986, Lot 1159 - $2,860. As PCGS XF45 #40184657. "The E Pluribus Unum Collection," Stack's Bowers, November 18, 2020, Lot 4195 - $14,400. RR-4. 116.4 grains. Flipover doublestrike with second strike brockage. |
|
#4 PCGS XF45
As "Extra Fine 40." "The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection," Bowers and Merena, May 1996, Lot 62 - $4,070; Anthony Terranova; Lawrence R. Stack, November 2006. As PCGS XF45 #46767162. "The Sydney F. Martin Collection," Stack's Bowers, August 24, 2023, Lot 8380 - $15,600. RR-4. 128.4 grains. |
#7 PCGS XF40
As "VF30 or better." "The Dr. Gordon Smith Collection," Bowers and Merena, September 9. 1986, Lot 770 - $385. As "VF35." "The Marvin P. Matlock, M.D. Collection," Bowers and Merena, March 22, 1991, Lot 1052 - $797.50. As PCGS VF30 #28624158. "The Charles A. Wharton Collection," Stack's Bowers, February 2014, Lot 362 - $2,585. As PCGS XF40 #28773207. RR-4. Prominent planchet flaw across the upper obverse. |
#7 PCGS XF40
As "Very Fine." "The Richard Picker Collection," Stack's, October 24, 1984, Lot 250; McCawley-Grellman, November 2001, Lot 268. As PCGS XF40 #50449699. "The Ross Family Collection," Stack's Bowers, November 26, 2024, Lot 1288 - $14,400. RR-4. 132.2 grains. |
The 1785 VERMONTIS is a spelling variant of the 1785 Landscape Type Vermont Coppers (the other two spelling varieties are VERMONTS and VERMONTENSIUM). The pressure to collect all three of these varieties increases the value of the VERMONTIS variant because it is represented by only one die combination (Ryder 4). High grade examples are very rare -- the best is the Gem example that currently resides in the Bennington Museum in Vermont. The Ford:17 About Uncirculated was another notable example. The key to collecting the 1785 VERMONTIS (and all Vermont Coppers, for that matter) is to locate examples that have clean surfaces, a problem-free planchet, and a nice, chocolate-brown color. The VF30 illustrated above features two out of three.
The 1785 Vermont Copper, Vermontis
Two RR varieties feature the VERMONTIS spelling; however, the RR-4 (#800846) utilizes the only die pair to display the date within the circular inscription. The other VERMONTIS variety, the RR-5, displays the date inside the field, below the plow. This enigmatic issue is known in both struck versions (#915140) and contemporary cast counterfeits (#925849). The obverse die reads VERMONTIS. RES. PUBLICA · 1785 ·, while the coin’s central motif follows the familiar Green Mountain, sun, trees, and plow theme of the other landscape issues. Aside from the Mint State example held at the Bennington Museum, no known uncirculated examples reside in private collections. The finest example in the PCGS condition census is a uniface piece from the recently sold “E PLURIBUS UNUM Collection.” Other examples with notable pedigrees fall into the PCGS XF40–45 band.
1785 Vermont Copper, Landscape, Vermontis, RR-4 (#800846):
- Obverse (Obverse 3): A crudely drawn mountain range is surmounted by eight trees: six to the left of the anthropomorphized sun and two to the right. A plow is positioned below. Wrapping around the edge is the inscription VERMONTIS. RES. PUBLICA · 1785 ·. The date is positioned at the bottom, just left of center. The left tip of the plow blade terminates over the tip of the flag of the 1.
- Reverse (Reverse C): An Eye of Providence is positioned at the center of a glory of rays and 13 stars. The inscription reads STELLA. QUARTA. DECIMA (Latin for “The Fourteenth Star”). An interpunct is positioned near the border at 6 o’clock. Below the Q and C are stars.
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