Values
Early American coinage is a shelf of issuers, not a price list. This page is an overview.
The mintage chart leaves G, VF, and MS-63 blank. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not cover this group. Do not paste an auction hammer into the grade columns.
If you have one and want to sell it, start with how to sell a coin collection. Federal half cents and large cents begin in 1793 on their own pages.
Key Dates
There is no single key date. State copper, foreign silver, and tokens overlap. A date on a state coin is that issuer’s date, not a Philadelphia mintage.
Errors
One catalog number for every colonial. Issuers differ. A Massachusetts copper is not a New Jersey copper.
Federal half cent filed here. 1793 and after, with a federal design, belong on the half cent page.
Invented census. A survival guess is not a mintage.
Varieties
This page is a map of issuers, not one Mint series with die varieties. State coinages, foreign coins in circulation, and Fugio cents are different objects. Federal half cents and large cents begin in 1793 on their own pages.
- State coinagesMassachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and the other state coppers do not share one design. Read the issuer before you read the grade.
- Foreign coins in circulationSpanish and other foreign coins circulated beside local copper. They are not a federal type.
- Fugio centsEarly federal-era copper often shelved with colonials. They are named here. They are not given an invented count.
Names follow PCGS CoinFacts and NGC, the same publishers this site already cites. This is a name list, not a price list and not a count.
Mintage
No single issuer. No single table.
| Year | Mint | Mintage | G | VF | MS-63 |
|---|
Mintage: the note under this table names the page that printed each count. These figures are not an NGC Coin Explorer extract and they are not the 1974 Mint pamphlet.
Collector-standard year/mint presentation follows A Guide Book of United States Coins (the Red Book). These cells are Mint manufacture figures, not a Red Book net or melt.
Values: NGC US Coin Price Guide, retrieved 2026-08-21. Guide values, not offers. Not melt. NGC IDs link to the same publisher’s price-guide listing.
Key date names: PCGS CoinFacts (2026-08-21). Bold rows are only dates that publisher named.
The chart is empty on purpose. A colonial overview is not a year-by-year mintage table. A remembered count does not. The grade columns are empty because this site has no NGC guide extract for this group.
Specifications
These are mint specs, not what a dealer pays. Wear can take a little weight off. We will not invent a tolerance. These pieces do not share one weight. No catalog page used here prints a thickness for the whole group.
| Specification | Figure |
|---|---|
| Diameter | Not printed |
| Thickness | Not printed |
| Weight | Not printed |
| Composition | Not printed on a cited catalog page |
| Edge | Not printed on a cited catalog page |
| Designer | No single designer |
No catalog page used for the early American coinage overview prints a thickness. Diameter and thickness stay Not printed. These issuers do not share one weight.
Grading
Early American pieces wear first in the legend that names the issuer.
Federal copper from 1793 on is the other shelf.
Key Diagnostic Areas
| Area | What to examine | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | The colony, state, or legend on the obverse and the reverse. | Massachusetts is not New Jersey. This page has no single design. |
| Date | The date of that issuer. | It is not a Philadelphia mintage. |
| Planchet | The copper, as struck. | These pieces do not share one weight. |
| Federal type | A 1793 federal copper cent. | Those coins have their own pages. |
Circulated & Mint State
These cards describe this coin, not a second copy of the P-1 through MS-70 chart. The shared numbers live on the glossary.
What each named grade looks like on this design.
Poor
Poor
A disk you can still call a early american coinage if you already know the type.
- The legend and the device are gone.
- The date may be a shadow. Do not scrape it.
- Shine does not make this a better coin.
AG
About Good
You might read a digit. The high points on this early american coinage are already slick.
- The legend and the device are worn to a blank patch.
- If you cannot read the date without hoping, stay here.
- A state copper is still this grade if it is this worn.
Good
Good
The date is readable. The design is still mostly an outline.
- The legend and the device are flat. The type is an outline, not a portrait.
- The rim should be full enough to hold the legend.
- This is a worn coin, not a details story.
VG
Very Good
The date is clear. A little life returns away from the high points.
- Some leftover detail sits away from the legend and the device.
- The high points are still tired.
- Do not clean the date to “see it better.”
Fine
Fine
You can follow the design. The high points are outlined, not sharp.
- The legend and the device are outlined and flat — no real sharpness yet.
- The rest of the coin can look busier than the grade.
- The date should be clear. The mint mark should be too, if there is one.
VF
Very Fine
The type is doing real work. The legend and the device still decide.
- Leftover detail sits on the legend and the device. The centers are still the worn spot.
- Marks do not raise the grade.
- A regular state copper is still this grade if it is this worn.
EF
Extremely Fine
Most of the coin looks sharp. The high points tell on it.
- Light wear on the legend and the device.
- The rest of the coin can look better than the grade. Trust the high points.
- The date should be sharp.
AU
About Uncirculated
Almost no wear — and “almost” lives on the same high points.
- A trace of rub on the legend and the device.
- Luster may still sit in the fields. Rub on those high points is still rub.
- A bright coin with a slick high point is still slick.
Basal MS
Mint State
No wear. The fight is marks and luster, not how white the coin looks.
- No rub on the legend and the device.
- Marks and luster decide how this mint-state coin lives.
- A bright chewed-up coin is still chewed-up.
Choice
Choice Mint State
Still no wear. Cleaner fields than basal mint state.
- Same no-wear rule on the legend and the device.
- Fewer marks in the fields. Luster is more intact.
- White is not a grade.
Gem
Gem Mint State
A clean early american coinage for this type. Still mint state, still not a story.
- No wear on the legend and the device.
- Marks and luster, not a romance about a date or a white field.
- A slab is an opinion in plastic. The glossary has the numbers.
This page does not invent a PR price grid. The proof numbers live on the glossary.
Copper color can matter on a copper piece. This overview does not invent one color table for every issuer. See the Lincoln Wheat cent and the glossary.
Overview
Before the Mint’s regular coinage, Americans used foreign coins, state coppers, and private tokens. The Red Book treats that material as its own chapter. This site gives it one overview so the federal series pages stay federal. It does not split every state into a page that would require mintages this project does not have.
No paired public-domain type plate was added. One state copper would not stand for the others.
This page is a series article, not a shop listing.
History
Colonial and state issues answered a coin shortage. They were not a single act of Congress with one standard weight. The federal half cent and large cent, starting in 1793, are the first regular copper on this site. Flowing Hair silver and the first gold follow on their own pages.
Design
There is no single obverse and reverse on this page. Each issuer used its own pair. A state name, a native figure, or a legend in Latin can sit on either side. Read the issuer, and read both sides, before you read the grade.
People Also Ask
Why is this one page?
Colonial and early American pieces are many issuers, not one Mint series with one table. This page is the overview. It does not pretend they are a single denomination.
Why is the chart empty?
There is no one year-by-year mintage table that covers Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and the rest without mixing issuers. Empty is the honest chart.
Are Fugio cents this page?
Fugio cents are early federal-era copper often shelved with colonials. They are named here. They are not given an invented mintage.
How much is a colonial coin worth?
This page does not print guide prices. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not include this group. An auction result is not a guide cell.
Collector Considerations
Identify the issuer. Then decide whether the piece is even a coin of that state or a later token. Federal types from 1793 on have their own pages.
Patterns are the patterns overview. Private gold of the 19th century is the private gold overview.
A Final Word
The early American page is a map of issuers, not a mintage chart.
An auction story is not a mintage.