![]() It caused an outcry because the Higley copper threepence was smaller in diamater than the contemporary British halfpenny but six times its value. Legend has it that Higley was in the habit of paying his bar bill at a local tavern with his own coinage. “A curator is always there with them to make sure those five go back in the tray,” Nelson said.Īlthough Higley’s copper coins were never officially sanctioned, they were accepted in Simsbury as legal tender. When researchers ask to view a coin, they are allowed to view five coins at a time in a small tray in a side room. The coins are kept in a protective covering and placed in a 10-inch-long box in the museum vault. “He had called in advance and requested to see our holdings of Connecticut coppers,” Nelson recalled. Museum officials suspect Rock snatched the coin when he visited the museum in June 1994 with two acquaintances. My main concern was that the coin did not disappear.” “I told I knew where the coin had come from and told him I would be calling the museum. Each one is uniquely identifiable,” Freidus said. “It became clear they were obviously the same. Suspicious, Freidus matched it to his photograph, and realized he had made a significant discovery. The piece shown by Rock at the Kentucky trade show was 9.54 grams, identical in weight to the one Freidus photographed in Connecticut a decade earlier. ![]() It is considered one of North America’s first copper coins.įreidus, who has been crossing the country for the past decade in search of Higley coins, was able to pinpoint the stolen coin by its weight. The coin was produced in 1737 by Samuel Higley of Simsbury at a copper mine near the current site of the Old New-Gate Prison. The stolen coin was one of four Higley copper coins the museum inherited from Tariffville resident Joseph C. But, obviously, there was a pinhole, if not a crack, and we’re re-examining our procedures. We were very confidant about our safeguards. “Of course we are very eager to know how the switch occurred. “We were mortified and infuriated,” Nelson said Friday.
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