The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-01-24

II that Connecticut blacksmith Of Col
onial days. John Higley, could have seen
one Of his much-berated copper three
cent pieces Of home manufacture bring
SZ75 at 8 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-''Value
Ne as You Please"-had been interpreted
more literally than he could have antici-
pated-
Completely outclassed by the many
splendid examples Of die cutting disposed
Of, at the same time. this crUdeiy en-
graved piece Of worn copper excited more
attention than any OF its pretentiOus as
sociates. The principal design, a deer,
was not much better than the caricature
OF that animal to be found On any school
boys slate. and the punctuation Of the
legends was executed with a fine disre-
gard for ali rules. a period having been
carefully placer after each word
The coin in question. which was the first
American-made copper coin 70 pass in
this country as currency, vas struck
from homemade dies. and on the OBJ
verse showed a deer standing 70 the left
Above the animal is a small crescent with
in a plain circle. which is broken at thf
bottom by scroIi-work incIOsing the nU
merais III" Around the border IS the
legend. Value. Ne. As. You Please.
with a hand pointing TO the word Value.
On the reverse Is a large broadax. sur
rounded by the inscription at the border
j. Cut. Ny Way Through" This VARIETY
IS undated. but IS thought 10 have beer
issued In T737. 175S. or 17S9-
Interesting Series of Coins.
American numisnatics do not embrac
more interesting series Of coins thai
those struck By HigIey, although de
tailed information regarding his opera
tons are not available. From what cal
I be learned he was a blacksmith, an
/ in I7S7 pursued his trade az the towl
/ OF Cranky, Conn. near by which plac
was located some Of the first copper mine
Z TO be worked by Europeans IN this coun
try.
] IN those days q multitude Of commO
dities had 10 do service as a circulatin
( medium, from ''musket bullets OF III
I boare." at a farthing each. down to TO
bacco at two shiIlings 70 the pound Gold
silver. and copper currency was scarcs
and even when obtainable represente
such q variety Of values that much con
/ fusion IN handling il was experience
by the COlonials-
The story goes that Hlgley a. this tim
/ conceived the idea Of providing a home
made substitute for the coins OF n
realm and his first experiment ii thi
direction resulted in the production OF
copper coin about the size Of an old
tine copper cent which showed g dee
/ standing within 4 circle on the DIVERS
Below were the Roman numerals III
and around the border were the word
The Value Of Three Pence" On II
reverse in the field were represente
three hammers. over each q which va
a crown. The legend ran Connecticut
and the date WIS I737.
Higiey il IS said. was quite satisfied I
exploit his own money. and whenever
went IN the vicinity OF Cranky he wou'
tender payment for his purchases IN Il
shape OF these crude copper pieces. AT
Il seems they were quite freely accepts
The blacksmith turned out his cOppeTs
sufficient quantities 10 more than ne
local demands. until finally the tills
the local tradesmen were full 70 owe
flowing And then came g protest againl
their acceptance at the value Of thre
pence
Hgley was equal 10 the emergenc
however, for Re Immediately turned o.