Vermont Coppers.....one You Don't See Every Day, Ryder 15

Thanks Guys yes the 15 is something special. It's light weight and oval planchet make me wonder if perhaps it was struck on a Ryder 3 planchet. I wish I knew something of its provenance but Heritage offered nothing. It's strange with these but there more strongly detailed examples of this variety than the 10 and 11. I think this is die to the poor quality of the die steel and quick erosion and breakdown of detail after possibly only a handful of coins were made. The Ryder/Ford coin in VF (XF today) has extraordinary detail. The 10 I posted is the only uncirculated one known and has detail found on no other coin, this comes from Tony Carlotto who studied and imaged the coin at Boston C4. YES by all means post those photos from the mint site. It's somewhere I want to visit too! I've got a few landscapes but haven't concentrated on them yet. This is a mid die state Ryder 2 on a sweet tan non dug planchet. It was PCGS fine 15 but now is in a cloth bag in a typewritten 2x2 paper envelope.

I find the Mint most interesting. From descriptions it seems as if the screw press was built so that the top was actually the timbers of the building. It must have been an amazing place to cram so much into what amounts to a big shed. Was there a pond further upstream? It is all so confusing....1785 issues totally punch unrelated to the 1786, plus the Machin Agreement implying the mint was to be finished by 1787. So much we don't know.....I hope Tony at some Poinf does a second edition, I am on the "run to thirty" and at age 58 hope I have enough time. Right now Vermonts are "laying low" and opportunities over the next decade to buy the tough post Ryder coins will come about. I buy mostly through the major auctions and the last buy was this Ryder 10 "from an old New England Museum" and has been off the market for a century. The centers are weak allowing some natural central flan pits and reducing struck detail. A coin though which has spent all it's days above ground. .

Keeping an eye on New York. They had reason to be careful, they were a very young independent country surrounded by others that had recently been under arms. That is something a lot of people don't seem to remember, the Vermont coppers were not state coins, they were coins of an independent country. While they fought against the British during the Revolution, they were not one of the 13 colonies and did not join the United States until 1791 after the Constitution had been ratified.

Another Favorite!

Sorry, Conder. Looking at a rising sun over the Green Mountains of Vermont, the sun's eyes must be looking at Canada, not New York.

What's really neat though the clipped 9 appears rather nasty, the central detail is amazing. The far left powder horn shows a round incuse rim at the base. I've never seen that on any other coin.

What's special about the Ryder 10? Well, really nothing except they are all different and most are defective/rustic to the extreme. The artist who done those concise drawings in Crosby never even attempted the 10 reverse, and had no idea of how the wreath and hair was detailed. There were simply no high grade examples known. That was before my UNC surfaced and is a condition outlier with an XF in the Bennington Museum next best. I do really like these bust lefts because of their tie in to 14 year old William Buel It is mentioned that the legends on these coins was done by Coley, but I believe William made these dies. The lettering is not up to the other varieties, strange uses of the 1 as an I, and of course the very act of trying to overdate the die is something I can't see an experienced die maker doing. Also these coins were able to "migrate" and mix in with the myriad Conneticut, imitation and genuine English halfpence. This allowed them to circulate much more freely than the landscapes.

Too bad as the coin does have great detail and yes, a nice planchet.

My Ryder 10 has a fantastic planchet..too bad the edge was messed with; it's still one of my favorite coins. It's actually in a slot in my Large Cent Dansco album.
It's a tough coin with less than 100 examples known (estimate).

Like you, there is something special about the bust lefts with me
I also think William was directly involved.