19th Century Inimica Tyrannis Americana Confederatio Cast Copy

A nineteenth century cast copy of the 1785 Inimica Tyrannis Americana and Confederatio pattern, about 27 mm. One side shows Liberty standing beside an altar within INIMICA TYRANNIS AMERICANA. The other follows the Confederatio design, thirteen stars around CONFEDERATIO 1785. The original is one of the great rarities of early American numismatics, and it was rare enough by the middle of the nineteenth century that the collecting market produced its own supply. The best known of those are the struck facsimiles cut by James A. Bolen of Springfield, Massachusetts. This piece is a period cast rather than a Bolen striking, which makes it an artifact of that market rather than of 1785: evidence of what collectors of the 1860s wanted badly enough to have made.