Grew up in Reichenbach, at age 15 was apprenticed in a spinning mill then moved on to study textile engineering. Family on move from Nazis, living in Dresden, then Leipzig, then he emigrated to London, arriving in 1939. He was soon arrested and sen to an internment camp in Lancashire. In 1946, when out of work, he was introduced to Lucie Rie and was taken in as a shop assistnat.
His individual work was not shown publicly until 1950.
In 1975 Coper exhbited in Robert Welch's gallery in Chipping Campden. The thirty-six pieces were of great refinement. This was to be Coper's last solo exhibition in his lifetime, for he was already receiving treatment for the illness which lessened his ability to work and eventually caused his death in 1981.