Learn About the Six Nova Constellatio Patterns
In 1783, there was no strong central government as there is today. We were, at that time, just a group of colonies that were now called “states” and each one guarded its independence fiercely. The Articles of Confederation were supposed to guide us, but they gave too much power to the states and too little power to the central government. Most importantly, the central government had no power to tax the states which meant it had no money to pay an army, build inter-state roadways or create a national coinage.
Robert Morris was the Superintendent of Finance whose job it was to raise money to fund the Revolutionary War that was just fought and won. He then created a plan for a national currency to be used in the United States. Morris hired Benjamin Dudley to create a series of coinage for use in these new states. Morris proposed a currency system that was based on 1,000 (instead of today’s 100) Units. The 1,000 Unit coin would be called a Mark, a Quint coin was based on 500 Units and a Cent coin was based on 100 Units.
Dudley designed and created actual examples of the coins. Because they were not authorized as coins, these could be considered as probably the very first US pattern coins. All coins share a similar obverse design and the reverses are differentiated by the denominations. But the 5 Unit denomination was struck in copper and all of the others were struck in silver. Also, the denomination dictated the size of the silver coins struck with 100 Units being the smallest silver coin followed by 500 Units and finally 1,000 Units being the largest.
The obverses of all of the coins had the All-Seeing–Eye in the center of the coin, surrounded by long and short rays with all long rays separated by 13 six-pointed stars. The legend around the obverse periphery states “NOVA CONSTELLATIO” (translated as “New Constellation).
The common reverses have the numerical denomination in the center (“…5”) with “U. S.” above. They are enclosed in an olive branch wreath with “LIBERTAS – JUSTITIA – 1783” (LIBERTY- JUSTICE) around the periphery.
While the designs were nationalistic in nature, by design, they were not well received and never made it out of the Continental Congress’ committee that was assigned to consider these designs. Since there was a lack of enthusiasm for these coins beyond Morris, he had Dudley strike only one of each design, except that there are two of the same Silver 100 Unit “Bits” for some unknown reason, meaning that only seven coins were struck and all are exceedingly rare and accounted for. We do know, however, that Morris did share his designs with Thomas Jefferson, but Jefferson’s opinion on their design and value is lost to history.
Struck in Silver, the “BIT” 100 Unit coin has the exact same design as the copper 5 Unit did. The only difference is the denomination. This coin is smaller than the Copper 5 Unit and comes in two distinct varieties – a Decorated Edge and a Plain Edge. The coin depicted below is the Decorated Edge variety.
The other 100 Unit Pattern Coin is the Silver example, with a Plain Edge. The obverse and reverse elements and verbiage are exactly the same. The Decorated Edge has been replaced with a Plain Edge.
The “QUINT” is the 500 Unit Pattern Coin. It also has two varieties – one of which has a Plain Obverse, while the other variety has a Nova Constellatio Obverse. The Nova Constellatio obverse looks exactly like the other denominations, except for the denomination on the reverse is “500.”
The 1783 Nova Constellatio, 500 Unit, Plain Obverse, in Silver, is illustrated below.
The “MARK” is the 1,000 Unit Nova Constellatio Pattern Coin struck in 1783. It is Silver and the largest of the coins. The design on the obverse and reverse is similar to the other Nova Constellatio coins, except for the size and the denomination “1,000” and the fact that there is a six-petal rosette between the words NOVA and CONSTELLATIO.
| Date | Type | Mintage | AU Price | Unc Price |
| 1783 | Copper 5 Cent | 1 | Priceless | Priceless |
| 1783 | 100 Unit Silver, Decorated Edge | 2 | $100,000 | $250,000 |
| 1783 | 100 Unit Silver, Plain Edge | 1 | $750,000 | Unknown |
| 1783 | 500 Unit Silver, Plain | 1 | $1.2Million | Unknown |
| 1783 | 500 Unit Silver, Legend on Obv | 1 | $175,000 | Unknown |
| 1783 | 1,000 Units | 1 | $190, 000 | Unknown |
Expand your collection today and find a 1783 Nova Constellatio XF-45 PCGS (Pointed Rays, Large US).
