Photos and descriptions used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

As time passes, the announcements of newly discovered numismatic rarities become fewer and farther between. The reason for this is obvious and requires no explanation. Imagine the excitement, then, on August 21, 2004, when a family from New York state walked into the ANA convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with an extremely rare coin that was completely unknown to the numismatic community; a midgrade 1792 pattern cent, Judd-2. News of the discovery spread quickly at the convention and was even reported on a nationwide level by the mainstream media, mainly due to the financial value of the coin. But to coin collectors, dealers, and researchers, the historical significance of the piece transcended the potential market value, and the numismatic world rejoiced in the find. Until it was sold at auction in February 2005, it is believed the 1792 pattern cent had been in the same family since striking, although that claim cannot be definitively proven.

According to the family, the coin was kept in a Prince Albert tobacco tin with a small group of insignificant coins by their grandfather, who passed away in 1976, 200 years after America declared independence from Great Britain. What is certain is that the family members are direct descendants of a signer of the Declaration of Independence: Oliver Wolcott (December 1, 1726-December 1, 1797). According to the Rev. Charles Goodrich in his Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (1856), he was also an officer in King George’s War and the Revolutionary War, as well as the fourth governor of Connecticut. His son, Oliver Wolcott, Jr., eventually became a Connecticut governor as well but, more significantly to numismatists, was Secretary of the Treasury from 1795 to 1800 by the direct appointment of President George Washington. He was preceded in office by the first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, who was instrumental in the establishment of the nation’s first Mint in 1792. By all rights, both Oliver Wolcott and Oliver Wolcott, Jr., were founding fathers and had direct ties to the first U.S. Mint.

The Mint Act of April 2, 1792, quickly laid the foundation for the nation’s coinage. Employees were hired and a building was erected, commencing July 31, 1792. But before the building was completed, the first patterns, half dismes, were produced. These tiny pieces were struck at John Harper’s workshop at the corner of Sixth and Cherry streets in Philadelphia from silver deposited by George Washington, according to an essay by Michael Berkman as found on uspatterns.com. By the end of September, the facility was completed and rudimentary minting equipment installed. Shortly thereafter, the disme patterns were struck, this time within the recently erected walls of the new Mint. Next came at least three different cent patterns, details of which, to this day, are not completely understood. Fortunately a letter penned by Thomas Jefferson to George Washington on December 18, 1792, exists to provide some basic yet succinct information regarding the nation’s first cent patterns: (more…)