Q.David Bowers
1787 Fugio Cents
Fugio cents, bearing on the obverse a sundial with the inscription FUGIO ("I fly," a reference to the passage of time; a motif borrowed from the earlier 1776 Continental dollar), and MIND YOUR BUSINESS, and on the reverse a circle of links (representing the colonies) with the inscription UNITED STATES - WE ARE ONE at the center, were specifically issued under the authority of Congress in 1787.
Coinage apparently occurred in several different locations, including New Haven, Connecticut, Rupert, Vermont, and possibly New York City. The dies were engraved by Abel Buel. The Journal of Congress reported Saturday, April 21, 1787, that a committee recommended the following:
... the Board of Treasury be authorized to contract for 300 tons of copper coin of the federal standard, agreeably to the proposition of Mr. James Jarvis, provided that the premium to be allowed to the United States on the amount of copper coin contracted for be not less than 15%, that it be coined at the expense of the contractor, but under the inspection of an officer appointed and paid by the United States ...
On Friday, July 6, 1787, a resolution was reported that:
The Board of Treasury direct the contractor for the copper coinage to stamp on one side of each piece the following device: 13 circles linked together, a small circle in the middle, with the words UNITED STATES around it; and in the center, the words WE ARE ONE; on the other side of the same piece the following device: a dial with the hours expressed on the face of it, a meridian sun above, on one side of which is to be the word FUGIO, and on the other the year in figures 1787, below the dial, the words MIND YOUR BUSINESS.
On September 30, 1788, it was reported that:
There are two contracts made by the Board of Treasury with James Jarvis, the one for coining 300 tons of copper of the federal standard, to be loaned to the United States, together with an additional quantity of 45 tons, which he was to pay as a premium to the United States for the privilege of coining; no part of the contract has been fulfilled. A particular statement of this business, so far as relates to the 300 tons, has lately been reported to Congress. It does not appear to your committee that the Board was authorized to contract for the privilege of coining 45 tons as a premium, exclusive of the 300 mentioned in the Act for Congress.
The other contract with said Jarvis is for the sale of a quantity of copper amounting, as per account, to 71,174 pounds; this the said Jarvis has received at the stipulated price of 11 pence farthing, sterling, per pound, which he contracted to pay in copper coin, the federal standard, on or before the last day of August 1788, now past; of which but a small part has been received. The remainder it is presumed, the Board of Treasury will take effectual measures to recover as soon as possible.
The foregoing indicates that by September 30, 1788, much of the anticipated huge coinage had not materialized.
The initial production apparently commenced in New Haven, Connecticut, under the supervision of James Jarvis. By June 1, 1787, coinage had ceased, although by that time a number of Fugio pieces had been struck. Abel Buel went to Europe, leaving the dies and other apparatus to his sons William and Benjamin. It is believed that Samuel Broome and Jeremiah Platt (Platt was Jarvis' father-in-law), associated with copper coinage for the state of Connecticut, continued to make on a subcontract basis Fugio cents at mints located near New Haven at Westville and Morris Cove. William Buel, as noted earlier in this text, earned the animosity of local Indians who sought revenge after one of their number died by drinking acid (which they believed to be rum) taken from Buel. He fled north to a newly developed section of Vermont and settled at Rupert, taking with him certain tools and implements.
Apparently somewhat fewer than 400,000 copper Fugio cents were actually struck. In 1858, C. Wyllys Betts, then 14 years old (later he became a prominent American numismatic personality who on one hand made deceptive forgeries and fantasy pieces, and who on the other prepared the standard reference work relating to early American medals), discovered on the site of the Broome & Platt store in New Haven three sets of Fugio dies. These pieces differ in numerous respects from those actually used for earlier coinage, although the main features are the same. Around 1860, restrikes were made from these dies in copper alloy, silver, and gold.
A large quantity of Fugio coppers, estimated at several thousand pieces, was for many years in the vault of the Bank of New York. As recently as the 1940s specimens were still available from that source, although by that time the hoard had been largely depleted. Most mint-condition pieces known today trace their origin to this particular group.
Diverse Early American Tokens
During the late 18th century a wide variety of tokens appeared in circulation in the United States. Many of these issues were made in England, primarily in Birmingham, while others were produced by various coiners within the United States.
Standish Barry, a Baltimore silversmith, struck a distinctive silver threepence token in 1790. Barry, 27 years old at the time, may have intended the piece to commemorate the anniversary of American independence, or perhaps some special celebration was held in Baltimore which occasioned its issue. The piece bears a male portrait on the obverse, perhaps Standish Barry himself the-legend BALTIMORE TOWN JULY 4 90 surrounds. The reverse bears the words THREE PEN CE surrounded by STAND ISH BARRY. The specific day date, July 4, in addition to the year is a distinctive feature. The coinage production apparently was extremely limited, for Standish Barry threepence pieces are exceedingly rare today.
On January 4, 1790, the First Presbyterian Church of Albany, New York, authorized an issue of 1,000 copper tokens to be valued at a penny each. These were intended to be used in the church collection in lieu of the counterfeit and very worn pieces often contributed. Presumably they were sold to parishioners at the rate of 12 to a shilling.
Two different variations were produced. The first has CHURCH in block letters with PENNY in script. The second variety is the same but with the script letter D above CHURCH, "D" being the abbreviation for penny, or denarium, in the English monetary system. Today, these pieces are exceedingly rare. Fewer than a dozen exist of each variety.