1786 VT 1/2P Baby Head, BN (Regular Strike)
Series: U.S. Colonial Issues
PCGS AU53BN
PCGS AU53BN
PCGS XF40BN
- PCGS #:
- 548
- Designer:
- N/A
- Edge:
- N/A
- Diameter:
- N/A
- Weight:
- N/A
- Mintage:
- N/A
- Mint:
- Philadelphia
- Metal:
- Other
- Auction Record:
- $34,500 • AU53 • 05-21-2008 • Stack's
Major Varieties
- 1786 VT 1/2P Baby Head, BN
Condition Census What Is This?
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#1 Est. PCGS MS63BN
Bennington Museum. RR-9. |
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#2 PCGS AU53
"The Minot Collection," Stack's, May 22, 2008, Lot 51 - $34,500. As PCGS AU53 #37300259. "The Q. David Bowers Collection," Stack's Bowers, June 23, 2020, Lot 205 - $28,800. RR-9. 123.8 grains. Plated in Bowers (2018), Carlotto (1993), and Whitman's Colonial Coin Encyclopedia (2009). |
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#2 PCGS AU53
"The Richard August Collection," Stack's Bowers, November 18, 2025, Lot 1405 - $28,800; "The RUATWINCOIN Collection" (PCGS Set Registry). RR-9. 134 grains. |
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#2 PCGS AU53
RR-9. |
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#5 PCGS AU50
RR-9. |
#6 PCGS XF40
Stack's Bowers, November 18, 2019, Lot 4095 - $5,760. RR-9. |
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#6 PCGS XF40
Ellis and Doris Robison. As "Choice Very Fine or better." "The Robison Collection," Stack's February 10, 1982, Lot 194. As PCGS Genuine #35776462. "The Archangel Collection," October 2018, Lot 7101 - $2,880. As PCGS XF40 #35776462. "The Sydney F. Martin Collection," Stack's Bowers, August 24, 2023, Lot 8389 - $6,000. As PCGS XF40 #46767172 RR-9. 124.4 grains. Proceeds from the Robison Collection benefited Brown University, Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Russell Sage College. One of the finest known of the type. Scattered pinscratches on the reverse caused it to initially details grade, but upon further review, the grading room determined that these flaws did not preclude the coin from earning a straight grade. |
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#8 PCGS VF35
RR-9. |
#8 PCGS VF35
"The Richard August Collection," Stack's Bowers, November 18, 2025, Lot 1406 - $4,800. RR-9. 126.2 grains. |
The 1786 Vermont Copper, Baby Head, RR-9
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s Juliet famously asks, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” In variety collecting, however, a memorable name can be transformative. Such is the case with the RR-9 “Baby Head” (#800848).
It was first listed as a “Boys Head” in the February 28, 1859, Bangs sale of the Henry Bogert Collection (Lot 1295, which sold for $1.75 to “Curtis” — probably Portland collector W.T. Curtis). By the time the W.T. Curtis Collection was sold by W. Elliot Woodward on June 14-16, 1880, the variety had already earned its “Baby Head” moniker.
Of all the portrait coins that make up the Vermont Coppers, the Baby Head stands as a singularly whimsical issue. No longer using the landscape motif, the coiners adopted a style similar to that of the Connecticut coppers. The inscription AUCTORI VERMON replaces the various stylings of VERMONT(S, IS, ENSIUM) RES. PUBLICA. Avoiding the grammatical quagmire of those past issues, the die sinkers utilized abbreviated Latin instead. The reverse also abandons the radiating sun of the landscape issues for a seated figure of Columbia with a staff and branch in hand.
It does not take a stretch of the imagination to see the “Baby” Head: the features are fat and rounded, the forehead is extended, and the cheeks are puffy. The head is also disproportionately large compared to the figure's shoulders and chest. Tony Carlotto believed this design was purposeful, suggesting it was perhaps a tribute to minter Reuben Harmon Jr.’s daughter, Clara, or to Richard Van Voorhis, the son of Harmon’s business partner, Daniel Voorhis. Both children were born in 1785.
The RR-9 is grouped into two weight categories: 105-115 grains and 123-126 grains. The PCGS condition census is largely composed of the heavier coins, though some underweight examples are known. Finding an ideal RR-9 means looking for a defect-free, glossy planchet that exhibits a full strike, particularly in the symbols on the reverse shield. Any example in PCGS XF40 or better is a true condition rarity. The finest known example is held in the Bennington Museum in Vermont and would likely grade PCGS MS63BN.
On the RR-9, the reverse is typically rotated at about 220 degrees.
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