Samuel Higley Mined and Minted America's First Coins

Of all the settlers who came to the northeast corner of Simsbury during the onset of copper mining and iron making, the most remarkable by far was Samuel Higley.  

Aside from being a medical doctor, Dr. Higley was also a practicing blacksmith who also learned metallurgical and mining skills. In 1728 the Connecticut General Court granted Higley the exclusive rights for the making of steel in the entire colony for a period of 10 years.

Steel was made by removing iron from its ores. Iron ore was mixed with charcoal and turned into hot masses from which iron metal could be "wrought" by repeated hammering. Placing the iron back in burning charcoal seemed to make it harder and stronger. The iron picked up carbon from the charcoal, especially along its surface, turning it into the hard material that has come to be known as steel.

By the spring of 1733, Higley had begun mining copper on his own property, now the farm at 79 Holcomb St., about a mile and a half south of the mines at Newgate. Although no documentary evidence directly links Higley to the minting of coins, since colonial times he has been associated with the Connecticut copper tokens first produced in 1737, when his skill to make steel dies would have been used for minting.

Apparently, as Samuel Higley's exclusive privilege for making steel was about to expire, he decided to get into the business of minting copper coins. As double-striking is normal on most remaining examples, it is thought Higley used the older hammer method rather than a screw-press in the minting process.

Because Higley used this particular method, and undesired second impression is often visible along the left edge of the first letter in words on his coins.  In one instance this causes the first letter of the obverse legend to resemble a W instead of a V, thus reading "WALUE," which was certainly never Higley's intention.

Out of the Higley mine came the raw material for one of Samuel Higley’s finest achievements. In addition to being America’s first steel maker, Higley was the first minter of copper coins in the English America.

Legend has it that he also had a great thirst, and the local innkeeper charged three pence a drink. Now, it doesn’t take a degree from Yale to figure out what happened next- and although it was against Crown Law to mint currency, his first copper coins were originally valued at three pence.

It wasn’t long before the innkeeper had such a collection of these coins that he refused to take any more of them. Thereby Higley melted all of the coins down, and restruck them with the phrase on one side, “Value Me as You Please,” and the other side had the phrase “I Am Good Copper,” but still retained the Roman numeral III which was understood to mean three pence.

The sizes of these coins varied, but they were approximately the size of a modern half-dollar. Higley made the steel dies for these coins, which indicates he was at least as interested in the making the dies as he was in making coins.

Roughly five varieties of Higley Coppers are shown in the displays at the Connecticut State Library, Connecticut Historical Society, and Simsbury Historical Society. The clever and clear designs are all quite similar. They picture either an antlered deer, broad ax, a trio of sledge hammers with a crown above each, the word Connecticut, a pointing hand, or a combination of these.

Samuel Higley died in May of 1737 during a sea voyage on route to England to deliver a shipment of copper from his mine. If the date on the coins is accurate, Higley certainly could not be responsible for the minting of the 1739 coins. He died so early in the year it is also likely he may not have personally minted all of the 1737 coppers either.

In fact, although we know Samuel Higley was the owner of the operation, we do not know who the actual workers may have been. Clearly others besides Higley were involved in the operation. Although no records have been uncovered directly related to the minting of these coppers, collectors and those who study currency have suspected the undated wheel specimen. The dated 1739 coins and probably some of the 1737 examples may be attributed to Samuel's elder brother, John Higley Jr. However, the only reason to assume he was involved at all is due to his relation to Samuel.

The scarcity of Higley coppers has been attributed to a quote from a goldsmith at the start of the Nineteenth century, who mentioned Higley coppers were a reliable source of the pure copper, which was required in making gold alloys, but that it was very difficult to find them anymore.

Those who have done a metallurgical analysis of the copper in the Higley tokens found them to be quite pure, mostly 98-99% pure copper. Thus, some have concluded, "If Higleys were perceived as purer; it may have been an eighteenth-century myth that led to their selective use by goldsmiths, not an eighteenth-century fact." Possibly the legend 'I AM GOOD COPPER' not only helped ensure the acceptance of this token, but may have also played a role in its destruction!

Tradition among Higley’s descendants holds that Samuel Higley died at  sea at the age of  50, and when the little settlement of Turkey Hills lost him, they lost an educated townsman, a former schoolmaster, a practicing physician, blacksmith, steel maker, miner, and minter of the first coins in America.

Early American Coins