What Is The Oldest US Cent?

I do not consider the Fugio cent to be the "oldest US cent" because it is not explicitly denominated as a cent. That's my opinion.

Unless OP is willing to clarify what precisely is meant by the question -- valued at a cent, or denominated as a cent, or both? -- there is no "right" answer.

Back when the Fugio cent was made, it was common for coins, both base-metal and precious-metal, to not bear a denomination. That way, the government issuing the coin could easily change the face value of the coin if deemed necessary, simply by legislating that Fugio cents would now be worth 2 cents (for example).

Of course, this never actually happened to any US coin; the Fugio cent was valued at one cent for its entire history as a circulating coin. Therefore I see no problem with calling it "The Oldest US Cent": it was tariffed at one cent as per legislation of Congress, it was issued by a government calling itself "The United States", and it was the first such coin.

There is a separate though related debate (recently played out here on the forum and elsewhere) as to whether or not the Fugio Cent qualifies as "Federal coinage" or not. This is in light of PCGS recently reclassifying Fugio Cents from "Colonial" to "Federal".

I'll cede the point. The logic is sound.

I think the pre-denomination early U.S. coinage will be collected and prized due to this unusual feature, not just because it was early. As scholarship of this period becomes more socialized I think it will be an important grouping. I am thinking that a type set of pre-denomination U.S. coinage would be greatly interesting.

Within this grouping, there will also be added importance for the subgroup of pre-denomination coinage that was issued by our new nation prior to the establishment to the Mint. In particular, those that were produced by an act of Congress, in other words, officially commissioned by our national government.

Many of these issues were lumped together with more crude colonials for a long time, which reflected more parochial ideas. These pre-U.S. Mint issues are a melding of many diverse ideas that became the United States of America.

Sure there are collectors with highly specialized knowledge, many of them in CCF, but I think that a wider collecting public will become more steeped in how our nation's coinage came to be. Our coinage was born out of the many conversations and values that shaped our free way of life.

The Fugios will be an important part of this small, prized grouping, struck at a critical time in the formation of our nation. I think that when young people realize the hollowness of video games and they mature, they will become more interested in some of those things that we prize today.

I am always astounded by the inquisitive and thoughtful quality of the folks that I run into in this forum.

I have been following this discussion from afar, and I am happy with the arguments advocating the FUGIO was in fact the first cent because they were struck and issued by order of the federal government.

Sure, other issues also carried the word CENT before the mint at Philadelphia opened in 1793, the Massachusetts copper coinage being one of them, the 1791 Washington pieces being another. However, as far as I know and have read, the Massachusetts copper coins were a State, therefore local issue, while the Washington pieces were a private initiative.

I solved the issue for myself by having examples of each in my collection

Looking good!

Going over some older videos I have on a back up hard drive, I came across this really fascinating and very pertinent to this discussion on early American cents. Given by John Kraljevich at the 2005 EAC Connvention worth a watch if you are interested in early coinage. John covers what coins circulated here in America alongside large cents vs/ stuff that just didn't yet is often sold as American circulating colonial coinage. Good stuff as always by one of our generations most knowledgeable numismatists.

https://archive.org/details/EAC0501...olonialCoins