Owner Comments:
On 6/1/1786, the New Jersey legislature granted coining privileges to a group of three enterprising individuals - Walter Mould, Albion Cox, and Thomas Goadsby, (with the unofficial involvement of Matthias Ogden). They were to produce 3 million copper coins, each composed of 150 grains of pure copper, over a period of two years. The State supreme court justices, or any one of them, were to determine the design elements and legends to be incorporated into the coins. A 10% royalty was to be paid quarterly to the State, and all coins were to be produced within the State.
The relationship between some of the mint venturers was contentious from the outset, and ultimately resulted in litigation, and the evolution of multiple mint sites: Rahway, Morristown, and Elizabethtown; with connections to out-of-state sites, such as New York City (John Bailey) and Machin Mills.
Elements of the coppers' design were taken from the State's seal, attributed to Pierre du Simitiere. Although as many as 144 varieties exist, many very unique, most exhibit common obverse and reverse motifs: The obverse displays a truncated horse's head, in varying styles, usually facing right, with a plow below, and the peripheral inscription "Nova Caesarea". This Latinized name for New Jersey was first used in a boundary establishing indenture issued by Charles II. Caesarea was an ancient classical name for the Isle of Jersey located in the English Channel, and called Caesar's Island in Roman times.
The common reverse features a shield in its center, (based on the Great Seal of the US), with the peripheral legend - "E Pluribus Unum" - the first use on a coin of what would ultimately become our national motto.
Many New Jersey coppers were struck over Connecticut coppers, Irish halfpence, counterfeit English halfpence, and others that could be obtained more cheaply than creating planchets from scratch.
The 1881 scholarly treatise of Dr. Edward Maris, "A Historic Sketch of the Coins of New Jersey With a Plate", serves as a foundation for the alphanumeric designations still used today.
Pictured above is a 1787 Outlined Shield New Jersey copper, graded AU 58 BN by NGC. It carries the Maris 48-g designation. The dies for this variety were created at the Rahway Mint, but migrated to, and were struck at different places - i.e. Mould's Morristown Mint (on larger planchets), and Ogden's Elizabethtown Mint, as coining equipment and supplies were taken over by various vying partners.
Most distinctive aspects of this variety are exhibited on its reverse: The shield has an unusually strong and deeply engraved border. The vertical lines within the shield, called pales, come in groups of four, unlike other New Jersey coppers. The central point, at the top of the shield, is lower than the pronounced upper point to the left (sinister), and the upper point to the right (dexter). The final U in the peripheral word Pluribus is re-punched, as is the M in Unum. Eventually, a prominent diagonal die break developed spanning the shield. At least three distinct die states exist. Interestingly, this 1787 piece was actually struck after the 1788 Maris 51-g with the same reverse. Several pleasing mint state examples exist.