1787 Fugio 1C States United, 4 Cinq, BN VF30BN 认证号48721675, PCGS号883

Today, November 5th, 2024 is presidential election day in America! In honor of this highly consequential ritual, I thought I would share a copper coin from our pre-pubescent republic. This attractive, yet often overlooked 1787 Fugio Cent (Newman 13-N variety, Rarity-5) represents the first federally issued design authorized by The Congress of the Confederation of the United States, pre-dating all others, even the widely circulated Flowing Hair Large Cent of 1793 and later. By most accounts, the Fugio Cent was designed by Benjamin Franklin. Early dealers and collectors advertised the availability of what they then called, the Franklin Cent. Not surprisingly, the coin's design shares elements consistent with paper currency printed years earlier on one of Franklin's printing presses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the obverse, FUGIO translates from Latin, "I flee", referring to the passage of time, implicit in the design's radiant sun and sundial. My favorite part, MIND YOUR BUSINESS can be read literally, as Franklin was known to have strong opinions on the matter. Aptly applied to our current presidential contest, an entry in the Journal of Congress dated September 30, 1788 reads in part, " The excellent monitorial caution, MIND YOUR BUSINESS, impressed on each of these, may prove an antidote to insurgency." Time will tell. ~~~~~~~~~~~ On the reverse, we find thirteen interlocking rings representing the original thirteen colonies, together surrounding the motto, WE ARE ONE. That's not such a scary thought.

Ron Guth

The Fugio Cent is one of the most popular of all U.S. "colonial" coins because 1) it is a quasi-Federal coinage (in other words, not associated with a particular colony), and 2) it is available in fairly large quantities in Mint State thanks to the Bank of New York Hoard, which contained thousand of Uncirculated examples. 

The cinquefoils refer to the ornaments on the front of the coin: before and after FUGIO and before and after the date.  The Four Cinquefoil obverses were combined with a number of different reverse types.  This variety has the word STATES on the left side of the label on the reverse (others have raised rims, UNITED on the left side, etc.).

Quality-control was good, but not strict on these coins, thus fully struck, well-centered examples are difficult to locate.  Planchet laminations and voids are also common flaws on these coins.  For these reasons, the typical grade for Mint State examples is MS62 to MS63.  Gem are truly rare, and the best examples include three PCGS MS66BNs.