This Connecticut copper has seen it's better days and is missing the date and some of the detail. It can still be attributed by variety though. Take a look at it and post on the thread if you know the date and variety and what indicators on the coin helped you. The information to help you with your task is available on the internet.

I'd say 1788 Mailed Bust Facing Left

"Facing "Left" is rather obvious

The Britannia / Liberty figure at the reverse has her feet crossed, with some space between them. Most "facing left" varieties don't show that space between the feet, except the 1787 and the 1788. However, the 1787 has far less lettering at the reverse and thus drops away.

The 1788 "Draped bust" has no stars in the obverse lettering.


Source used:

2006 Red book (pages 57-60)












Have I now won the coin?

Hint...There's something special around the writing that's used as an identifier.

Ok Bill, this was very fustrating but FUN. I like Connecticut coppers, I only have one, so after looking at hundreds of Miller varieties on line, I've come up with:

1787 Miller 14-H

If not, I say UNCLE

Sorry for the torture. I also came up with the M.14-H variety. The giveaway are the arrows (they call them pheons) at the stop positions of the lettering and while I can't see them on this coin, there is also supposed to be an arrow at either side of the date.

Amazing all the varieties in 1787. I can picture them cutting dies in some shop in New Haven, press out a few hundred coins, breaking the die. Then designing a new one for more coins. The amount of varieties in those few years is staggering.

I find these interesting and should get into them more than I have.

Here's a good link for some Connecticut Copper info:
http://www.coinfacts.com/colonial_coins/co...icutCoppers.htm

I found a similar one of these in a dealers junk box about 20 years ago, I paid 25¢ for it. The dealer was actually estastic and could not contain his excitement. He asked me if I thought I knew what it was, "yes, most likely a Connecticut cent" was my reply. He said he had the thing salted in the junk box of foreign coins for more years than he could count and nobody ever pulled it out and wanted and or could identify it.

<I found a similar one of these in a dealers junk box about 20 years ago, I paid 25¢ for it. The dealer was actually estastic and could not contain his excitement. He asked me if I thought I knew what it was, "yes, most likely a Connecticut cent" was my reply. He said he had the thing salted in the junk box of foreign coins for more years than he could count and nobody ever pulled it out and wanted and or could identify it. >

Back in 1972 my father, who collects foreign coins, stopped by one of the coin shops in town and spent some time going through the junk box where he found a coin he couldn't identify. The dealer didn't know what it was either, so my faher spent two hours going through all his books and some of the books that the dealer had until he found it. Well he thought it would be a good piece to try and stump me with so he bought it and brought it home. When he got there I was in the kichen preparing supper and he tossed it to me saying "Ok, what is it?" I snagged it out of the air, glanced at one side, glanced at the other, and tossed it back. "Colonial from Connecticut." The look on his face was priceless. He'd spent two hours identifying someting I did in five seconds.