1/2 Penny - Copper 'Hercules Head'

Connecticut authorized its own copper coinage in October 1785, one of several states to fill the vacuum left by the absence of a federal mint. The "Hercules Head" variety — named by collectors for the bust type, which diverges noticeably from the more common draped bust obverses in the Connecticut series — was struck by private contractors, not a state facility. Connecticut farmed out its minting to several different partnerships over these years, resulting in the wild die variety proliferation that makes this series one of the most technically complex in all of American colonial and state coinage.

Miller's die attributions for Connecticut coppers run into the hundreds of varieties. PCGS numbers 334 and 361 represent distinct die marriages within the Hercules Head grouping.