Collection Highlights
Pierre Toussaint (ca. 1781-1853)
Date:
ca. 1825
Object Number:
1920.4
Medium:
Watercolor on ivory
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Fugio cent
Object Number:
INV.13669b
Date:
1787
Medium:
Copper
Dimensions:
diameter: 1 1/8 in. ( 2.8 cm )
Marks:
Struck: Obverse: "FUGIO 1787/MIND YOUR/BUSINESS"
Struck: Reverse: "UNITED STATES/WE ARE ONE"
Description:
Copper cent struck on obverse with resplendant sun and sundial and legend: "FUGIO 1787 / MIND YOUR BUSINESS"; Reverse has chain of thirteen circular links with legends "WE ARE ONE" and "UNITED STATES."
Gallery Label:
The design and inscriptions on the "Fugio" cent, the first coin issued by the United States, were suggested by Benjamin Franklin. The obverse of the one-cent coin features a sun and sundial with the legends "FUGIO" (I fly) and "MIND YOUR BUSINESS," while the reverse depicts thirteen linked chains , representing each of the thirteen colonies, with the legend "WE ARE ONE."
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
