1785 VERMONTS PCGS XF40 BN. This 1785 Vermont copper is a light and dark brown example, which shows the coins originality. The surfaces are clean and hard with no visible porosity or other distractions. The gray smudge marks on both sides are on the holder not the coin. The strike is above average with full details on the eye, the circle, the rays, and the stars. The reverse shows the outline of the landscape and the plough. Lettering on the right side of both obverse and reverse is stronger than on the left.
 
The Vermont legislature granted Reuben Harmon Jr. of Bennington County the exclusive right to make copper coins for the colony. With a weight of 10.37 grams, they exceeded the Tower Mint standard for the halfpenny and were heavier than any other coppers in circulation. As a result the legislators reduced the mandatory weight to 7.19 grams or 63 to a pound. The heavier coin, the present piece is an example, was issued from October to December 1785. The main device, designed by William Coley, was the sun rising over the landscape of the Green Mountains with a plough below. The legend VERMONTS RESPUBLICA means, The Republic of Vermont, which was the issuing authority, a sovereign republic. The other side shows an All-Seeing Eye in the shining sun with a constellation of thirteen stars, one for each of the original colonies. The legend is STELLA QUARTA DECIMA, The Fourteenth Star, which represented local pressure to join the union as the fourteenth state.
 
During the colonial period, Vermont was claimed by both New Hampshire and New York. On January 15, 1777, Vermont proclaimed its independence. It remained so until it was admitted to the union as the fourteenth state on March 4, 1791. As a republic, it was the first local government to authorize and establish a mint to produce coins. Reuben Harmon Jr. petitioned the House of Representatives of the Freemen of Vermont to be allowed to mint copper coins. In less than a week, the House of Representatives and the upper chamber, the Governors Council, passed an act that gave Harmon the exclusive right for two years to mint coppers starting on July 1, 1785. The law stipulated the weight, design, and inscriptions. Harmon had to post a bond of five thousand pounds. The day after the bond was posted Harmon began setting up the mint in Rupert, Vermont.
 
Harmon came to Vermont from Connecticut around 1768. He became a prominent member of the community. He was a representative to the legislature during 1780 and a Justice of the Peace from 1780 to 1790. He was also an entrepreneur and businessman. He obtained a supply of copper, a press, and a site for a mint. However, he was not a skilled die maker and had to subcontract this responsibility. He selected the silversmith firm of Daniel Van Voorhis and William Coley of New York City. The die cutting for the Vermont coppers probably began in July of 1785. It is generally thought that the dies were made by William Coley since he later moved to Vermont from New York to work at the Rupert mint.
 
In its population report, PCGS shows 3 1785 VERMONTS copper coins certified at the XF40 grade level with 10 better.