The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-07-26
HOMEMADE COPPER HONEY
A THREE PENNY PIECE THAD
HAS SOLD FOR S275.

Coined by John Higley. Connecticut Blacks
smith-One Series Bore the Legend
.svaIue Me as You ~Piease"-Mads
From Metal Mined In His Own State,
II that Connecticut blacksmith Of Colonial
days John Higley could have seen oie Of
his much berated copper t~hreepenoe pieces
of home manufacture bring $275 at a coin
sale In this city the other day he would have
noted with great satisfaction. no doubt,
that the injunction engraved upon one Of
his coins-aValue Me as You Please'-had
been interpreted more literally than be-
could have anticipated.
Completely outclassed by the many
splendid examples Of die cutting disposed
OF at the same time. this crudely engraved
piece Of worn copper excited more attention
tban any Of its p~retentious associates. The
principal design, q deer. was not much better
tban the c~aricature Of that animal to be
found on any schoolboy's slate. and the
punctuation Of the legends was executed
with a fine disregard for all rules, a period
having been carefully placed after each
word.
The coin In question, which was the first
American made copper coin To pass in this
country as currency, was struck from
homemade dies. and on the diverse showed
a deer standing to the left. Above the ani-
NAL Ii a small crescent within a plain circle.
which Ia broken at the bottom by SCROLL
work enclosing the numerals iii Around
the border Is the legend VALUE ME. AS.
YOU. PLEASE with a hand pointing to the
word Value On the reverse Ia a large
broadaxe, surrounded by the inscription
at the border y. CUT. MY. WAY.
THROUGH This variety Is undated. but
Ia thought to have been issued in 1851 i7S
or 1889.
American numismatics do not embrace
a more interesting series OF coins thar those
struck by Higley, although detailed in
formation regarding his operations are
not available. From h can be learned
he was a blacksmith and In 1877 pursued
his trade at the town Of CRANKY. Conn.
near by which place was located some or
the frst copper mines to be worked oy
Europeans in this country.
In those days q multitude Of commodities
had to do service as a circulating medium.
from amuskett bullets OF Q full boare..
at a farthing each. down to tobacco at
two shillings to the n uoia, saiver
when obtainable represented such q variety
Of values that much confusion IN handling
it was experienced by the Coloniaisi
The story z, sos is. that q, H psas|di M 'a q home oms
D msSs subst ihs for the Coins Of The realm.
and his first experiment in this direction
resulted in the production OF q copper
coin about the size Of an old time copper
cent which showed a deer standing within
Roman numerals iii and around the
border were the words 4The Value Of Three
Pence" On the reverse In the field were
represented three hammers. over each OF
which was q crown. The legend ran
Higley, it Is said. was quite satisfied to
exploit his own money, and wherever he
went in the vicinity Of CRANKY he would
tender payment for his purchases In the
shape OF these crude copper pieces. And
i seems they were quite sG ont ir Sisy o aocsPseGi IN
sufficient quantities to more than meet
local demands, until finally the tills OF
the local tradeemen were full to over.
flowing. And then came a protest against
their acceptance at the value OF s =nreepemos'
however. for he Immediately. turned out
A new design. This showed a deer standing
in a circle ON the diverse with the value
I'll below and surrounded by the in
scription 'vatue Me As You Please On
Is isse SSins sea az Il Am hn'e ao 5ssHs oo Pps .ee WHICH RsS
was followed by twenty-seven small dots
in the form Of two irregular triangles and
At once putting the new issue into circpla.
| ton, this pioneer American coinmaker left
the valuation Of his copper pieces to be
| determined by conditions.
The Higley coins consisted altogether OF
| seven diverse and four reverse dies, all COM
i h;o;pn the 1Qparal fQaturol nj the anari.
mems described. but bearing minor differ
snces. The coins were all made with
beaded or milled borders and varied in
size. the weight ranging from 100 to ITO
| grains. The denomination Of threepence
was placed upon them to meet the depre-
ciated value Of the Colonial paper money,
| then 80 extensively circulated. although all
| Of his coins were Of the purest copper.
In fact so pure was the metal contained in
these pieces that the were much sought
OF alloy, and the coins seem to have been
in pretty general use until 1902, the time
Of the opening Of the United States mint,
The Higley pieces were struck in the
years 1877. 1873 and 1889. ,specimens bearing
the first and last dates being well known.
A ooin Of this series with the date 1888 ia
not known to exist.
Notwithstanding the lack Of authority
Higley issued these coins without hindrance.
and later ~endeavored to place his coinage
| ulOu odbib ~ Ciiibtluk liz Dol NlOc6
OF one John Read Of Boston TO have the
copper product Of his mint made the none
tary standard Of the province.
On October is. 1889. Read addressed a
memorial to the General Court Of Connecti-
cut. in which he suggested that the court
obtain from the crown authority for the
establishment Of a mint at which copper
coins could be struck to supply the Colonists
with a proper currency n at the same
time develop the mines and natural re-
sources Of the colony. He drew attention TO
the lamentable condition Of the currency Of
New England at this period, due to the de-
probation OF the paper bills 30 lavishly
issued by the various colonies.
Read proposed a currency Of English
halfpenoe and farthings, to be made from
Connecticut copper. with which we're to he
redeemed the outstanding bills Of Con
necticut. new bills only to, replace those
already in circulation. He suggested that
a bank be created. which should pay It's
obligations and those of the colony upon
demand. in the course OF business. one-haf
in the new bills and one-half in the copper
money Of the proposed new Connecticut
mint.
Very little attention, however. seems to
have been paid to the petition OF Higley's
representative. although later Connections
was flooded with the copper coin Of private