Abel Buell

Buell, Connecticut's first engraver, was punished for counterfeiting in 1764. Two years later, he was pardoned by the Connecticut General Assembly. In 1769, the Legislature loaned Buell 100 pounds to establish a type foundry. The machine failed to produce revenues sufficient to repay the Colony, and in Decmber 1774, Buell fled to Pensacola, Fla., where he remained until his wife settled his indebtedness in October of 1777. In 1785, he designed the dies and constructed the machine which, for various times between then and 1789, coined Connecticut pennies under the direction of the General Assembly.