(1785) Bar Copper

The simple and elegant design of the Bar Copper is said to be based on a Continental Army button design of the period, with an interlocking USA monogram on the obverse and thirteen bars representing the original colonies on the reverse.

But while the design of this issue is straightforward, its origins are less clear.

The prevailing theory is that these pieces were struck in Birmingham, England, possibly at the request of a New York merchant and intended for circulation in New York. Indeed, a contemporary newspaper account in the New Jersey Gazette of November 12, 1785, documents their appearance in commerce:

"A new and curious kind of coppers have lately made their appearance in New York. The novelty and bright gloss of which keeps them in circulation. These coppers are in fact similar to Continental buttons without eyes; on the one side are thirteen stripes and on the other U.S.A., as was usual on the soldiers buttons."

Based on the light weight of these pieces it is not likely they passed as 'pennies', and are probably more accurately referred to as coppers or tokens.