MASSACHUSETTS COPPER COINS (1787-1878)
Notes:
Rather than follow the
example of some of the surrounding states, Massachusetts opened its own
Mint in 1787 instead of contracting the coinage out to private
concerns. Although authorized to strike coins of gold, silver, and
copper, the Mint only produced copper coins in the Half Cent and One
Cent denominations. All dies for the 1787 (and the earliest of the
1788) coins were made by Joseph Callender, who created open S's in the
legends. Later dies were made by Joseph Perkins, whose S's were
closed and looked more like 8's. The earliest issue (and one
believed to be a sort of Pattern coin) is the Transposed Arrows variety
of the 1787 Cent. On this variety only, the arrows held tightly in
the eagle's talon appear on the left side of the coin -- all later
Massachusetts Coppers show the arrows on the right side of the
reverse. Another characteristic unique to this rare variety is the
raised "CENT" on the eagle's shield -- again, all later issues
are different and feature an incuse "CENT." An equally
interesting (though, less rare) variety is the "Horned Eagle"
One Cent of 1787 where a die break connects the top of the eagle's head
to the bottom left of the H of MASSACHUSETTS, making the eagle look like
a cross between a bird and a unicorn! Massachusetts was the only
State to produce coins that bore the denomination "HALF
CENT." The legal authority for the coins of Massachusetts
ended on January 23, 1789 but would have been superseded anyway a few
months later when the U.S. Constitution was adopted.
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