SUPPLEMENT FOR THE YEAR 1787 for Gentleman's Magazine, England. Within this supplement issue, which was published at the end of the year, is a full page print of various coins, one of which is the Nova Cesarea New Jersey colonial coin dated 1786.
There is a very brief note on it on the following page: "Fig. 6 is sent us for decyphering as a supposed American coin." which it is. The print shows both sides, which includes "E Pluribus Unum" on the reverse. A rare numismatic item.
Background: This engraving is highly prized because it features one of the earliest contemporary illustrations of an American state-issued coin: the 1787 New Jersey Cent. Shown in the center row with its iconic horse head, plow, and shield, this piece represents the historic debut of the motto E Pluribus Unum on a coin. Because the magazine was published in London just as these coppers entered circulation in the newly independent United States, it offered Europeans a first look at the young nation’s iconography. Today, intact copies of this plate are incredibly rare and valuable; for over a century, numismatists and history enthusiasts have routinely cut this specific page out of surviving volumes to frame or add to their collections, leaving most surviving 1787 books incomplete. It remains a holy grail for collectors of early American currency.
Complete in 68 pages, a banner heading at the top of the first page with the title, 5 1/4 by 8 1/4 inches, great condition.