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D2006-CMD-1223
"Georgivs Triumpho" copper
D2006-CMD-1223

"Georgivs Triumpho" copper

Date1783
OriginEngland
MediumCopper
DimensionsDiameter: 28 mm
Credit LineGift of the Lasser family
Object number2003-22,6
Label TextTraditionally, a newly formed nation produces its own money as a proclamation of sovereignty. Since there was a lag of ten years between the end of the Revolution and the opening of the first United States Mint, there was an opportunity for private "for profit" coin producers on both sides of the Atlantic. One way to ensure the success and profitability of a coinage for the new republic was to put George Washington on it.

"Georgius Triumpho," Latin for George the victorious, is the legend on the obverse of this enigmatic 1783 English copper coin. But it isn't really clear to which George it's referring! Washington did win the Revolutionary War that year, but the portrait looks like just like King George III.

Baker #7

Exhibition(s)