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1/2 Penny - Copper
| Issuer | State of New Jersey |
|---|---|
| Year | 1786-1788 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | KM#8 |
| Obverse description | A horse's head in profile facing right occupies the central field, rendered in high relief with a detailed flowing mane. Immediately below the horse's head appears a plow in left profile, its coulter and beam clearly delineated as symbols of New Jersey's agricultural character. The encircling legend NOVA CÆSAREA (Latin for New Jersey) runs along the upper periphery, while the date appears in the lower exergual area beneath the plow. The entire design is set within a plain border with a milled or engrailed rim, consistent with the hand-worked die engraving typical of late 18th-century American colonial copper coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
New Jersey was the first state to authorize its own copper coinage after independence, passing legislation in June 1786 that licensed three private contractors — Albion Cox, Thomas Goadsby, and Walter Mould — to strike the pieces. The arrangement was troubled almost immediately. Mould in particular was suspected of striking unauthorized planchets beyond his quota, and the coins themselves varied wildly in weight and quality across the production run.
Contemporary counterfeit and lightweight pieces circulated freely alongside the authorized issue, a persistent problem with state coppers of this period that the New Jersey legislature proved unable to control before federal coinage authority superseded all state issues.