1788 VT 1/2P Backward C, BN (Regular Strike)
Series: U.S. Colonial Issues
PCGS AU55BN
PCGS AU50BN
PCGS XF45BN
- PCGS #:
- 566
- Designer:
- N/A
- Edge:
- N/A
- Diameter:
- N/A
- Weight:
- N/A
- Mintage:
- N/A
- Mint:
- Philadelphia
- Metal:
- Other
- Auction Record:
- $63,250 • AU50 • 11-29-2001 • Bowers & Merena
Major Varieties
- 1788 VT 1/2P Backward C, BN
Condition Census What Is This?
|
#1 PCGS AU50
"The Matthew Adams Stickney Collection," Henry Chapman, June 1907, Lot 154; possibly C.H. Stearns; Robert Vlack,1969 - $3,000; Bowers and Ruddy Galleries' Rare Coin Review 7, July 1970; "The Dr. Robert I. Hinkley Collection," Bowers and Merena, November-December, 2001, Lot 2412; Jack Wadlington; Anthony Terranova; Stack's, January 2008. As PCGS AU50 #46767232. "The Sydney F. Martin Collection," Stack's Bowers, August 24, 2023, Lot 8425 - $45,600. RR-30. 140.9 grains. At the time of the 1907 Stickney sale, this example was the finer of two known. |
|
#2 PCGS XF45
RR-30. |
#3 PCGS VF35
RR-30. |
#3 PCGS VF35
|
#5 PCGS F12
Stack's Bowers, April 13, 2022, Lot 1215 - $13,200. RR-30. |
#6 PCGS VG10
"The Henry Phelps Collection," Lyman H. Low, March 1908, Lot 13; Hillyer C. Ryder; F.C.C. Boyd. As "F-15 to VF-20." Bowers and Merena, November 1991, Lot 116 - $6,325. As VG10 #37300235. "The Q. David Bowers Collection," Stack's Bowers, June 23, 2020, Lot 231 - $10,200; Heritage Auctions, August 22, 2021, Lot 3561 - $11,400. RR-30. 113.5 grains. |
The 1788 Vermont Copper, Backward C, RR-30
The 1788 "Backwards C" Vermont copper (RR-30 / #689362) is one of the most amateurish and rarest issues in the series, with fewer than thirty specimens known to exist. It is infamous for its blundered obverse die, where a crude, ropelike border outlines King George II's uniform and nearly every letter is poorly placed. Several characters are double-cut, others crowd into their neighbors, and the letter C was punched upside down into AUCTORI to create the signature retrograde letter.
Ironically, that headline feature isn't always there to see. Struck on undersized planchets with an often off-center strike, the backwards C runs entirely off the flan on a number of survivors, as does much of the date. When the variety’s namesake letter is missing, specialists look to VERMON for attribution: the V is distinctly double-cut, and the M cuts straight into the adjacent O.
- Obverse: A Romanized bust of King George II, lacking finer detail as struck. The legend was blundered by the die sinker and reads VERMON? AU?TORI (with the "C" punched backwards). The lettering is also unevenly spaced and the V is prominently double punched. This variety represents the sole use of this obverse die.
- Reverse: Depicts a seated Britannia. As with the obverse, this design lacks finer detail. The inscription INDE ET LIB (without punctuation) wraps around the left and right edges of the field. The exergue is poorly defined; the digits "1" and "7" of the date are punched close to the ground line, while the "88" overlaps it.
* * *