CoinTalk Member Posts a 1760 Voce Populi Halfpenny, "VOOE" Variety, Graded PCGS AU50
On the CoinTalk forum, member lordmarcovan presented a 1760 Voce Populi halfpenny of the "VOOE" variety, graded PCGS AU50; the source gives no posting date. The poster explained that the copper was struck for use in Ireland but circulated in the American colonies, and that the variety arose when the die engraver punched an "O" where the "C" should be and then repunched the "C" over it.
Correction (Oct 13, 2026): We rewrote the headline, summary and body to match the source, a forum member's post about a coin. We removed material not in the source, including passages on the colonial currency shortage and mercantilist policy, circulation in New York and elsewhere, the claim that the error proves decentralized production, a price range of thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, investment and storage advice, and future scientific analysis, and presented the post as the member's own account. The previous headline was "1760 VOOE Error Coin Highlights Colonial Currency Crisis."
This article describes a post on the CoinTalk collectors' forum in which member lordmarcovan posted about a coin. The source does not give a posting date. What follows is the poster's own account and explanations, along with a reference the poster quoted; GNJ has not verified it.
The coin
The coin is a 1760 copper Voce Populi halfpenny of the so-called "VOOE" variety. According to the poster, it is graded PCGS AU50 (Cert. #49471240) and is listed as Numista-80846 and Krause-Mishler-TTN1. The post lists its provenance as ex-David Lawrence Rare Coins (Inventory #784638), October 20, 2024, and states that it was purchased in the slab.
Struck for Ireland, used in the colonies
The poster wrote that although the issue was struck for use in Ireland, it circulated in the American colonies, and for that reason it is listed in the Colonial section of the "Red Book" of United States coins. The poster also noted that "Voce Populi" is Latin for "Voice of the People."
What the reference says about its origins
The poster quoted the Numista listing. It says very little is known about the origins of these coins, all of which carry the date 1760. Traditionally they have been attributed to a button maker named Roche, on South King Street, Dublin, who at that time made buttons for the army and would have had the die-making skills and raw materials to produce such tokens. The listing adds that the coppers may have continued to be produced through 1761 using the 1760 dated dies.
Why it is called "VOOE"
According to the poster, the variety arose when the die engraver accidentally punched a second "O" where the "C" in "VOCE" should be, then corrected it by repunching the "C" over the erroneous second "O."
The color in the photos
The poster wrote that the PCGS "TrueView" images do not show the coin's color accurately and that the David Lawrence images are closer. The poster described the coin as chocolate brown with nice surfaces, not the orangish color seen in the PCGS images.
Replies
SensibleSal66 replied that they had not read all of the post, mostly looked at the pictures, and had always wanted to own one. lordmarcovan answered that since this was not one of their giveaways, they would let the "not reading" pass this time.
Source: CoinTalk, "United States (British Colonial): 1760 copper Voce Populi halfpenny, "VOOE" variety" (forum thread).
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